The wet season extends from November to April and is characterized by cyclones and heavy rain events that make vegetable growing challenging. The peak growing season is in the dry season, therefore, in what would be the autumn to winter seasons in temperate climates.
The majority of the vegetables grown in the Northern Territory are in the greater Darwin region comprising Asian vegetables such as okra, snake beans, and Asian melons. Further inland around Katherine, pumpkin and asparagus are grown while in central Australia are pumpkin and garlic. Most farms are family-based operations.
The economic value of vegetables in the region is in the order of $80 million annually, with principal markets in the Brisbane, Sydney, and Melbourne wholesale markets.
While vegetable production slows down in the southern states as winter temperatures drop, the territory's tropical weather system means temperatures are still at 25-35 degrees Celsius during the dry season, according to Mariah Maughan, VegNET Regional Development Officer for the Northern Territory.
Mariah Maughan is the VegNET Regional Development Officer for the Northern Territory
"It gives our growers an advantage to be able to grow vegetables that require a warmer climate when it is very cold in other parts of Australia. So growing okra, snake beans, and Asian melons in the dry season does give us a market advantage," said Mariah.
"The Northern Territory is definitely used to having extreme weather. During the wet season, we are looking at quite dramatic weather events. In the coastal areas that can look like cyclones, but in general, it can look like heavy rainfall, so we are well prepared for these events."
Growers know paddocks will flood during the wet season and roads and railways may wash out, and Mariah said the industry adapts to that and focuses production on the dry season.
"We mainly work with the seasons and we work with the weather conditions that we're given," she says. "And so therefore we're not looking to be, say, trucking high volumes of vegetables when we are experiencing those harsh weather conditions."
As the wet season begins, it becomes more humid with higher temperatures and increasing rain events, which in turn increases pest and disease pressure. Fusarium is one of the main challenges in snake bean and root-knot nematodes for okra.
Transport costs also need to be factored in to reach the markets of Sydney, Brisbane, and Melbourne. Asian leafy vegetables such as bok choy, pak choy, and kang kong do not transport as well as snake beans and okra. Growers need to assess market opportunities for the crops grown carefully.
"Like many parts of Australia, moving to more sustainable soil practices and pest management practices will achieve more profitable outcomes in the long term. Like all around Australia, pests are a big issue, so looking at how we can manage them in a more sustainable way is important."
VegNET in the Northern Territory
Mariah sees her role as assisting growers with on-farm issues and improving productivity and profitability. By providing workshops, industry tours, extension material, and one-on-one support Mariah can provide assistance based on what growers need.
"The best way to understand what growers need assistance with is to really listen and understand what the main issues are, and the best way to get that assistance," she said.
"Protected cropping, market opportunities and diversification, soil health, and pest management have been strong issues and topics of interest for growers."
"We have had feedback from a lot of growers who sell to wholesale markets in Sydney and Melbourne that understanding who the buyers are and how the markets work would be beneficial. In November we are looking at a six-day tour going to the Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne markets, taking approximately 10 vegetable growers in order to see those market opportunities and meet market buyers.
"I think some of the larger farms are able to do this quite easily, especially the corporate businesses, but in the Northern Territory a lot of the vegetable farms are smaller family farms so a tour would provide that opportunity."
Pest management and farm trials form another component of the VegNET extension program. In this instance, pests extend beyond insects to include larger animals. Many snake bean growers also grow mangoes, which attract birds creating a considerable percentage of damage.
Mariah Maughan, VegNET RDO giving assistance installing soil moisture monitoring systems
A trial to be undertaken during 2024 will introduce a bird pest control laser to see if the damage to snake beans and mangoes can be reduced. If the trial is successful, growers will have opportunities to visit the trial site and understand how the system may be applied to their own farms.
In the Katherine region, wallabies are posing the biggest pest challenge.
"Our greater focus at the start was just specifically IPM because some of our biggest pests are our thrips, our mites, our aphids, I would say are the kind of common trifecta. But we've actually opened that topic up to pest management in general," said Mariah.
"In the last year, we've found we still need to be focusing on IPM and those smaller pests, which are definitely still an issue on our farms, especially in regard to what chemicals to use and what other biological controls we can use around for those pests. However, we are also now focusing on the larger pests impacting production as well."
Potential for growth under protected cropping
Protected cropping in the Northern Territory is based on shade houses for crops such as cucumber and Asian vegetables, which has been successful for a number of years. More recently, innovative growers are transitioning to hydroponic systems, particularly for Lebanese cucumber.
With further research to define market potential and growing best practices, Mariah believes that hydroponic systems under shade houses have the potential for further vegetable production.
Other opportunities in the vegetable sector may be the establishment of processing facilities for value-add products, and to extend shelf life.
"We have a diverse culture and with that a diverse vegetable industry here in the Northern Territory, so as an industry we can embrace that and promote what we grow to other regions of Australia, particularly during the colder climates down south," said Mariah.
"There are definitely challenges to growing in a tropical climate, but the potential for growth and reward is possible."
For more information:
Mariah Maughan
+6141 761 8468
[email protected]