Nathan Hancock, chief executive officer at industry association Citrus Australia, explains how COVID-19 has affected the citrus-growing and exporting industry in Australia.
COVID-19 has proved disruptive to the Australian citrus industry this year but strong domestic and international demand for our world class fruit has provided a silver lining.
Seasonal workers
COVID-19 made an immediate impact, when Prime Minister Scott Morrison closed Australia’s borders, stopping Pacific Islanders about to board flights to Australia to work under the Seasonal Worker Programme.
These workers are critical to harvest each year. Fortunately, there were already Working Holiday Makers (backpackers) and Islanders in Australia under the Seasonal Worker Programme.
Export markets
Australian citrus exports have had a positive start to the season despite the uncertainty caused by COVID-19. Japan and China have exported [a large portion of Australia’s orange crop] along with an increase in mandarin exports.
There has also been increased risk that at any time a market may close or a port may be heavily congested due to COVID-19 regulations, in the importing country.
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Pilot project
Agriculture Victoria has engaged Citrus Australia to undertake a $200,000 pilot programme aimed at improving traceability in horticulture supply chains.
The pilot traceability scheme will demonstrate the application of emerging technologies to a horticultural business in a real-time environment – from application of unique codes to individual packs, through to tracking them in the marketplace.
Domestic demand
Despite the additional work created by COVID-19, there was a silver lining in increased demand, particularly in the domestic market, with retailers revealing all citrus category sales had increased significantly.
