Bumper crop beats the wet

BY BLAIR ENSOR

Marlborough garlic growers had their hearts in their mouths as persistent rain hammered the region early last week, but the sun is now shining on a bumper crop.

Dry planting conditions in 2009, compared with torrential rain and flooding in 2008, have provided the local industry with a much-needed boost.

Phoenix Garlic business manager John Murphy said the company, which started harvesting last Thursday, had double the crop of presto and printanor garlic compared with last season.

Despite cold conditions in October, the crop had kicked away with the arrival of summer and he was happy with the size and quality. He expected that the company would average about 1.2 tonnes per hectare across its 51ha crop.

Mr Murphy said he was confident that the bumper crop would be snapped up by the New Zealand market, which was crying out for local produce.

"Chinese prices have risen, but that's secondary to the fact that there was more consumer demand for the product than we could handle last season."

The company was harvesting using two different methods this season, he said. About 50 per cent of the crop would be machine-harvested, which removed the risk of garlic being rained on for a prolonged period, although it could knock the garlic around a little. The other half of the crop was dug up, left to dry and harden in the sun, then harvested by hand.

"It spreads the risk quite nicely."

Rain at the beginning of last week had not caused any damage to the crop but had put the company a week behind schedule, which would put pressure on the packhouse to fill orders, he said.

"It's heart-in-mouth stuff when it's raining."

A change to using a contracting company for hand harvesting had taken some of the drama out of the operation, he said. People turned up at the time they were needed, and there was also a consistent number of people on site.

"They are hard workers. We don't get children hanging around the paddock."

Marlborough's other major producer, Piquant Garlic, also has an impressive-looking crop, but rainfall just prior to harvest has caused some damage.

Owner Alan Jones said the company started harvesting some of its 16ha of garlic on Monday, about a fortnight later than normal.

Heaty rainfall about 10 days ago meant some of the company's garlic was now considered oversized, but overall, the crop was exciting, he said.

There was little disease, and the yield was nearly double that of the previous season.

He estimated that about 1.4 tonnes a hectare would be harvested.

It's heart-in-mouth stuff when it's raining - John Murphy Phoenix Garlic business manager

- The Marlborough Express