strawberries

Australia's strawberry export season is expected to kick off early this year thanks to Western Australian growers adopting new varieties and planting methods this year.

This season many of the growers in Western Australia have planted ‘leaf-on' runners that are much faster to establish than their traditional ‘leaf-off' plantings, meaning growers can start harvesting up to six weeks early.

Leading Western Australian strawberry exporter Ti Produce Marketing expects their first shipments to be arriving in South East Asia as early as the third week of July, according to export manager Jamie Michael.

"We are seeing some excellent berries coming through and pricing is very quickly approaching the critical point at which we can start to export," Mr Michael said.

"Our new ‘leaf-on' transplants combined with increased plant numbers and favorable weather conditions mean that we are not just expecting an early crop, but we are expecting much larger volumes of fruit for export this season."

Australian strawberries are shipped throughout South East Asia, the Middle East and the Pacific region, although at this time of year Australia faces tough competition from the US in export markets.

"Fortunately for us the season is not just early but our quality is superb so we are able to offer our customers a new season product that will stand up alongside anything that is in the market," Mr Michael asserted.

"With these increased plantings, we could see yields around 15 per cent higher than average.

"Last year was quite a low yielding year, so compared to last year's figures the yield could be up as much as 25 per cent.

"In terms of tonnage, that could see an extra 100 tonnes shipped."

The Western Australian strawberry season starts now and runs through until the end of November.