As harvesting winds up, many Australian stonefruit growers in the southern state of Victoria are now counting the costs of heavy rains this season.
Following years of drought in the region, rainfall in December of last year was initially welcomed by growers. Unfortunately the season was punctuated by numerous heavy rain events, which caused damage to orchards in the area.
The worst of these rain events came in early to mid January when one prolonged deluge dumped around 350mm of rain on the region - more than the yearly average for the area.
Gaethan Cutri of family-owned company Cutri Fruit, which runs a 142ha stonefruit orchard near Swan Hill, told Fruitnet.com flood waters laid waste to around 20 per cent of the fruit trees on the orchard, and damaged a large portion of the crop.
Other growers in the area were also affected by surface flooding, he added.
As a result of the rains, the company’s sales were down by 50 per cent on the previous season, said Mr Cutri.
One stonefruit exporter told Fruitnet.com sales into Asia this year had been difficult, and they believed importers were reluctant to buy fruit, as there were concerns over the shelf life of the fruit.
