A farmer in South Australia's Riverland is expanding his watermelon plantings, as produce prices remain stable and the fruit's hard skin protects it against pests. The region has entered its third year of fruit fly restrictions, with 20 outbreaks of Queensland fruit fly – including two announced this week.
Nathan Jericho added watermelons to his farm 10 years ago. "We've grown pumpkins before and that's helped with our diversity but watermelons have probably become our main crop," he said. "Having the three different crops [pumpkins, grapes and watermelons] definitely helps to level out your bottom line at the end of the year so you're not reliant on one crop."
While other growers are planting vegetables, nuts and dried fruits to mitigate losses from fruit fly control measures, Jericho says watermelon's hard rind has proved a natural barrier against the pest. Jericho started small with the big fruit, yielding just 10 bins for his first crop of watermelon. His experiment has since grown into a fully-fledged operation, with his seedless watermelons available interstate and internationally.
Source: abc.net.au