season’s greetings to all dpifmers …… · web viewextension officer stuart smith flags some...
TRANSCRIPT
CONTENTSThe PINT Newsletter is produced by the Plant Industries Division of Department of Resources.
For further information please contact
Warren Hunt (08) 8999 2143
In this issue:
Vegetable quality post-harvest……....….2
Planning ahead for ICA changes………4
Derelict Orchards
Useful Links …...………………….…......6
Upcoming events…………………….…..7
July 2012 E-Newsletter
This issue - harvest issues
Dear Reader,
Welcome to another issue of the PINT newsletter.
This newsletter focussed on a range of issues
confronting our Northern Territory plant industries as
they head into the upcoming harvest seasons for
vegetables and mangoes. The local vegetable industry
has a number of practice and infrastructure issues within
the supply chain that can impact on the quality of
product delivered to our southern markets. Extension
Officer Stuart Smith flags some important issues around
this topic and how to remedy the situation.
With an announcement imminent from the Australian Pest and Veterinary Medicine Authority
(APVMA), on fenthion as a post-harvest treatment on mangoes destined for interstate markets; this
edition of PINT highlights some strategies and planning that mango producers might wish to consider
in the event that fenthion is withdrawn from use between
now and December. Finally, still with mangoes Stephen
West discusses the Plant Health Act 2011 in regard to
the subject of derelict or abandoned orchards.
Regards,
Warren HuntPh +61 (0)8 8999 2143Fax +61 (0)8 8999 2049Mobile: +61 (0)409 809 610 Email: [email protected]
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Forced air cooling can be used in a normal cool room.
A fan and tarpaulin is set up to force cool air through
the boxes or crates, accelerating the cooling process
(Picture: http://postharvest.tfrec.wsu.edu/pages/N4I1A).
Vegetable quality relies on what happens after harvestBy: Stuart Smith, Vegetable Extension Officer
The Northern Territory vegetable season is in full swing, crops are
being harvested, growers are busy, trucks are running up and
down the highway and it’s all a bit frantic. It’s also frantic down at
the markets in the cities of the southern states where wholesalers
receive, re-pack and distribute what the NT has produced to their
retail customers who sell it to the final consumers. We produce
our vegetables when it is too cold for the rest of Australia to grow
the same vegetables. The problem we have, however, is the long
distance and time between where our vegetables are grown and
where they are consumed, and the number of people who handle
these vegetables in the chain that connects the two places.
Work done by the Department of Resources in the dry season of 2011 showed that there are times
when everything doesn’t go to plan, and vegetables that leave the farm in excellent condition can
deteriorate to the point of having to be thrown out when they get to their selling destination. A lot of
this could be avoided with better cooling and temperature control.
At the farm, most Top End growers use
cool rooms or water baths to cool and /
or clean their vegetables. For some
vegetables like sinqua, luffa and
cucumbers, this is adequate, but not
ideal. For vegetables that have higher
respiration rates and produce their own
heat, like okra and snake bean, these
practices become more risky. Forced air
cooling is a recommended technique to
speed up cooling after vegetables come in
from being picked. Using a fan and covers and an existing cool room, cold air can be sucked
through crates and boxes, which speeds up the cooling process. Most NT vegetables are around
30°C when they are picked but require storage at temperatures ranging from 0 to 21°C (see Table
Page 2 of 8 Katherine Rural Review, Issue 290
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E D I T I O N 2 9 0 J U L Y / A U G U S T 2 0 0 8
Katherine Research StationPO Box 1346, Katherine NT 0851
Phone: (08) 8973 9739Fax: (08) 8973 [email protected]
ISSN 0394-9823www.nt.gov.au/dpifm
1), in order to achieve optimal product quality and shelf life. This temperature gap at harvest must
be reduced relatively quickly post-harvest to minimise deterioration. Our studies showed that, in
some cases in ordinary cool rooms where forced air cooling was not used, it took 15 hours to cool
cucumbers to 20°C, still a long way from their optimum temperature storage of 10-12°C.
Table 1.
Page 4 of 8 Katherine Rural Review, Issue 290
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E D I T I O N 2 9 0 J U L Y / A U G U S T 2 0 0 8
Katherine Research StationPO Box 1346, Katherine NT 0851
Phone: (08) 8973 9739Fax: (08) 8973 [email protected]
ISSN 0394-9823www.nt.gov.au/dpifm
Growers need to work closely with their transport providers in the next part of the chain after the
farm cool room. Most vegetables in the Darwin area are collected by a transport company who
takes them from farms to a central collecting depot, where they are temporarily stored in cool
rooms until they are picked up by prime movers to go to interstate markets. Growers should ensure
that their product moves quickly from their cool room to the collecting depot, preferably in a
refrigerated truck, or at night. Investigations have shown that all the gains from a farm cool room
can be lost if the pick-up truck is not refrigerated and collects during the day.
By the time vegetables leave the central collection depot, they should be at their optimal cooling
temperature, as refrigerated containers WILL NOT cool product down, they are designed to keep
product at the temperature once they are cooled. This is critical with snake beans, as their
temperature can increase dramatically during transit if they are not cold enough to start with, with
some consignments arriving at 40°C (and were “cooked” in the process!). Everyone has to take
responsibility, but if you are the grower, it is important that you are aware of everything that
happens between your farm and your customer and make sure your transport operators are truly
partners in your business so you get a quality outcome.
Snake beans generate their own heat and need strict temperature control or they will heat up, even in a
refrigerated truck. This box was opened at the Sydney markets and was already over 30°C
Planning ahead for changes in Interstate Certification Assurance (ICA) access for mango growersBy: Stephen West Manager – Chief Plant Health Manager Biosecurity
Interstate Certification Assurance (ICA) is a system of plant health certification based on quality
management principles. ICA provides an alternative to traditional plant health certification
involving government inspectors. It is a national scheme administered by all states and territories
and enables a business to be accredited by a state or territory plant quarantine authority to issue
plant health assurance certificates for its produce. To be accredited, businesses must be able to
demonstrate effective in-house procedures that ensure produce consigned to intra or interstate
markets meets specified plant quarantine requirements. The plant quarantine authority regularly
audits compliance by businesses.
Page 6 of 8 Katherine Rural Review, Issue 290
Red banded mango caterpillars in juvenile mango.
Source: Queensland Dept. of Agriculture, Fisheries & Forestry.
Derelict Orchards – To Act or Not to Act?By: Stephen West Manager – Chief Plant Health Manager Biosecurity
On the 1 July 2011 new Plant Health Act legislation came into effect in the Northern Territory.
One of the key points of interest to many commercial horticulturalists was that this new Act would
enable abandoned orchards to be directed to undertake mandatory actions against pests and
diseases, or even better to have them removed all together. Sounds good, but is not what the Act
is about.
The Plant Health Act does have powers to direct property
owners to control pests and/or diseases present on their
property through prescribed treatments or even in the
destruction of the host plants. However this power is set in
the context of a “Declared” pest or disease only. This
means that the pest or disease must be exotic to the
Territory and if it is detected, official intervention by
government is sanctioned. In addition a pest or disease
can be made “Notifiable”, which means reporting of the
presence of the pest or disease is compulsory. A recent
example for mango growers is Red banded mango
caterpillar which has been detected in certain parts of Cape
York. It is considered a serious threat to Australia's
commercial mango industry. RBMC tunnels through the
skin and flesh and feeds on the seed, causing fruit spoiling
and premature fruit drop. It is a priority declared pest under
the Mango Industry Biosecurity Plan and consequently
notifiable under the NT Plant Health Act - which means all the powers of the Act apply to it and
every lawful avenue to eradicate it can be exercised once its presence is confirmed.
So what about all of those abandoned orchards and the pests and diseases that are already here
in the NT? Managing the impact of endemic i.e., common pests and diseases, was never the
intent of the Plant Health Act 2011. The primary focus of the Act is to enable government
intervention in people’s private affairs should there be a need to control declared pests and
diseases that are a threat to our plant-based rural industries. This legislation finally brought the
NT into line with other state and territory jurisdictions, providing a clear framework for both lawful
and effective action.
. Page 7 of 8
The issue of derelict/abandoned orchards that boundary against commercial horticultural
operations remains problematic. The Plan Health Act 2011 has no bearing on the potential, real
or perceived threats associated with endemic pest or disease between neighbouring farms.
Dialogue, negotiation and cooperation represent the preferred non-litigious pathway for
producers. A third party, perhaps your industry association or other related entity may be able to
assist in brokering discussions around any such issues. In the words of Winston Churchill “To
jaw-jaw- is always better than to war-war”. Talk to your neighbour.
Useful Links
APVMA – Public Chemical Registration System
APVMA Permits
APVMA – Dimethoate Review
Bureau of Meteorology services
o Weekly climate note
o Madden-Julian Oscillation
Horticulture Publications – DAFWA
Mango Information Kit
NT Primary Industries Agnotes and Fact sheets
Primary Industries Publications – NT DoR
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