Australian exporters will have a more favourable citrus crop to market this year compared to last season when the effects of a high Australian dollar were compounded by a heavy crop of small fruit.
Oversupply on both the domestic and international markets last year lead industry body Citrus Australia to advise growers not to pick navels with a diameter under 70mm, as returns would likely be less than the cost of harvesting and marketing the fruit.
Fruit this season, however, is likely to be on average 5-6mm bigger than the previous, according to Citrus Australia value-chain coordinator Kym Thiel. Happily, volumes would be down slightly, he added.
