An analysis of mango production and marketing in Australia.
Schoorl D., Holt J. E.
Author Affiliation: Redlands Hort. Res. Sta., Delancey Street, Ormiston, Queensland 4163, Australia.
Agricultural Systems 21 : 171-188
Abstract : The management of production and marketing of short season, short shelf-life crops presents some special difficulties due to the limited time the product can be marketed. This paper analyses the mango industry in Australia as typical of crops with these characteristics. It develops a methodology for the analysis of current and future production and marketing potential. A production model is constructed which forecasts mango outputs for all mango-growing districts in t per week with inputs of tree numbers, tree age and yield per tree. The three markets for mangoes are domestic fresh fruit, domestic processing and export. Current fresh fruit throughputs and prices have been quantified for the main metropolitan markets. For the Brisbane market, typical of others, a price-throughout-time model is generated showing that the expected negative relationship between price and supply is amplified as the season progresses. A substantially constant price range is superimposed on this price-supply relationship, reflecting consumer assessment of quality. The markets for processing and export are also explored.