THE AUSTRALIAN VEGETABLE INDUSTRY

This review of the Australian vegetable industry will focus on the years 1972–73 to 1976–77. Over these five years the mean gross value of vegetable production was A$252 732 000. This represents 9.37 per cent of the value of all crops grown in Australia and 4.15 per cent of the total value of primary production, excluding mining.
The gross value of vegetable production in each State of the Commonwealth during this period is shown in table 1.

The total area of vegetable crops grown in Australia in the five years ending 1976–77 averaged 108 000 ha or 0.74 per cent of the total area under crop.
The area of vegetables in each State during this period is shown in table 2.

Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland together account for 75 per cent of the total crop area and 71 per cent of the total gross value.
Tasmania ranks fourth in area but only sixth in value reflecting the relatively small fresh market and the importance of processing crops in the island State.

Since the late 1950’s there has been little change in the total crop area, although, the area of crop in Queensland and South Australia has increased largely at the expense of Victoria.
In the five years to 1962–63 Victoria had 32 per cent of the total area of vetables in Australia with Queensland 20 per cent and South Australia 6 per cent.
Over the last five years Victoria grew 27 per cent of the crop.
Queensland 23 per cent, and South Australia 9 per cent.

This change particularly reflects the increased importance of potatoes and onions in South Australia and Queensland and also the increase in production of processing vegetables in these two States.

Symposium on Vegetable growing in the Asian and Pacific Region, XX IHC

M.N. Kinsella

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1979.101.6