Innovation with mango brings success to farmers.

Innovation with mango brings success to farmers.The key to the Australian mango industry's success it is all about the unmistakable, iconic flavor that is unique to many of the popular varieties that have become household names. The retail value of the mango crop increased by 40 per cent in the past three years — more than double the overall fruit category because of innovation in the industry.The use of the Near Infra-Red (NIR) technology that enables growers to pinpoint the precise optimum harvest window for their crop, regardless of location or variety is the reason for the increase. The study based on consumer feedback shows the minimum benchmarks for dry matter content of fruit is set at 15 per cent for Kensington Pride (Bowen), Honey Gold and Calypso varieties, while R2E2 required 13 per cent. This information is what the NIR technology works with, the NIR shoots the fruit on the tree to get a near infrared reading of the dry weight and with this the farmer decides to pick fruit or leave it on the tree to reach minimum dry matter content. source