Peak body Citrus Australia will receive up to A$109,650 from the Australian government to develop a campaign for promoting the country's mandarins.
The money is part of the second round of funding under the three-year ‘Promoting Australian Produce' initiative, and the project is one of 14 to share in nearly A$1.3m from the government to promote Australia's food to domestic and export markets.
Australian agriculture minister Tony Burke said the citrus industry is an important part of many regional economies, including the Riverland in South Australia, Murray Valley in New South Wales and Victoria, the Riverina in New South Wales and the Central Burnett region in Queensland.
"Australia produces about 600,000 tonnes of citrus each year, 16 per cent of which is mandarins," Mr Burke said.
"This is a great opportunity for the industry, with the mandarin peak season starting recently in March and carrying on through to November.
"The Australian citrus industry is worth around A$540m and is Australia's biggest fresh fruit export, with annual export earnings of around A$190m."
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