MEMBERS of the Australian persimmon industry gathered in the Riverland and Sunraysia this week to discuss innovations and opportunities in the sector.
Delegates visited small, large and commercial operations in the Riverland before holding a conference in Mildura and touring NSW DPI’s persimmon research block outside Dareton.
Persimmons Australia executive officer Dr Alison Fuss said consumers who’ve had bad experiences tasting the fruit probably encountered the astringent varieties.
“Sweet persimmons are ready to go when they’re crunchy and they’re just delightful,” Dr Fuss said.
“We’re trying to get across to consumers [to] have a go.
“They’re easy to eat, they usually don’t have any seeds, you can eat the whole thing except for the little green calyx on the top.”
In 2022 Australia produced about 3500 tonnes of sweet persimmons, valued at about $17 million.
The Australian persimmon industry typically focuses on two sweet varieties, Fuyu and Jiro, which are grown between late February and June.
Dr Tahir Khurshid is heading up research at the Dareton persimmon research block into the viability of new varieties.
Persimmons Australia president Chris Stillard said the findings so far provide incredibly valuable insight for the industry.
“Tahir has got new and modern rootstocks and existing and up-and-coming varieties,” Mr Stillard said.
“Farmers can assess for themselves to see if they’ll be suitable for their future farming practices and markets.”
Industry members also paid a visit to the Agromillora plant nursery in Irymple, where clonal propagation of persimmons is being tested.
“Australia is likely to be the first (country) to commercially clonally propagate persimmons,” Dr Fuss said.
“The fact that the rootstocks are variable means that we have variations in productivity across the orchard.
“By going to clonal rootstocks we look to improve the uniformity of yield and uniformity of production time for each individual variety.”
Hort Innovation’s George Russell said it was good to witness some of the research and development projects currently underway.
“Some of the investments we’ve heard about in the conference over the period of the week have been around rootstocks,” Mr Russell said.
“Looking at early and late season varieties as well … disease management and what’s happening in the field in relation to dieback issues.
“They’ve been some of the key investments we’ve looked at as well as some marketing that happens within the industry.”
