Fruit growing in Western Australia

Authors

Western Australian Department of Agriculture
Western Australian Tourist Development Authority

Publication Date

1965

Publisher

Western Australian Tourist Development Authority

City

Perth

Abstract

Revised 1965.

The Mediterranean type climate of the coastal belt of the south-west of Western Australia is suitable for the commercial production of apples, pears, various stone fruits, oranges, grapes, and several other less important fruits. The warm dry summers (November-March), are too severe for the profitable production of many berry fruits and the winters too cool and wet for most tropical fruits. Figs, mulberries and olives all flourish in this climate but, for economic reasons, few are grown commercially.

A small tropical fruit industry, mainly bananas, has been established along the banks of the Gascoyne River at Carnarvon, which is located in a semi-arid region about 600 miles north of Perth. The scanty rainfall (about nine inches), is supplemented by irrigation with water pumped from wells sunk in the bed of the usually dry river. Substantial breakwinds erected around the plantations assist in reducing evaporation in the banana groves.

The approximate location of the commercial fruit-growing districts of the south-western part of the State is shown on the accompanying maps. They extend in an intermittent belt from Gingin, about 50 miles north of Perth, to Albany on the south coast. In the northern part of this belt, orchards are usually located in the dissected country along streams in the Darling peneplain or on the alluvial deposits of streams where they cross the flat coastal plain. Further south in the wetter areas, the orchards are planted in hilly country of the forest districts. Rainfall ranges from 30 inches in the northern part to over 50 inches in the south-west, and most of it falls in the cool winter months.

Grapes, citrus and stone fruits predominate in the north. In the southern part pome fruit predominate with limited production of citrus and stone fruit including canning peaches.

Number of Pages

13

Keywords

Fruit; Western Australia; Orchards; Vineyards; Agriculture; History

Disciplines

Agribusiness | Agricultural Economics | Agricultural Education | Agricultural Science | Fruit Science | Horticulture | Natural Resources Management and Policy

Recommended Citation

Western Australian Department of Agriculture, and Western Australian Tourist Development Authority. (1965), Fruit growing in Western Australia. Western Australian Tourist Development Authority, Perth. Report.
https://library.dpird.wa.gov.au/hc_publishedrpts/8

Maps

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