WA's golden opportunity

Western Australia’s first commercial harvest of 25 tonnes of Dori gold kiwifruit from the Southern Forests commenced last month with the fruit destined for the local WA market this year.

The Southern Forests Food Council has been involved with a program to explore and establish the new industry in the region since 2014, originally working with a New Zealand-based enterprise.

There were two early adopters who took the leap to establish the vines in Pemberton, Hawkebrook Farms and Lake Janis Farms, both of whom are harvesting their first commercial crop this season.

The program has involved a great deal of research and development, including international trips to see how the best in the world grow premium gold kiwifruit. Growers have also had to source and adapt a special trellis system to grow as well as establish suitable rootstock for the Pemberton climate.

There have been several setbacks along the way, including awaiting the safe transit of budwood through the Australian quarantine system and bulking up of the budwood to allow for the Dori gold kiwifruit variety to be grafted onto the established rootstock.

“Nurturing the labour-intensive crop through its first few years has been challenging at times, but worth it to finally harvest the crop,” said Dean.

Southern Forests Food Council have welcomed the new addition to the regions fruit production.

Jamie Craig from Dori Australia holds the licence to market the Dori variety in Australia and is looking to visit the region regularly to connect with other growers interested in planting the highly anticipated crop.

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