Tropical North Queensland Agriculture: From Sugarcane to Exotic Fruit

Tropical North Queensland's agricultural sector, producing the sugarcane that dominates the coastal flats from Mossman to Ingham, the tropical fruit that the Atherton Tablelands' rich volcanic soils support, and the banana production of the coastal lowlands that contributes a significant share of Australia's banana supply, provides the economic foundation of the region's rural communities and the raw materials for the processing industries that add value to the primary production. The agricultural diversity that the tropical climate and the geological variety of the region support, from the alluvial flats that sugarcane requires to the basaltic soils of the Tablelands that support the temperate vegetables alongside the tropical fruits, makes the Cairns hinterland one of Australia's most agriculturally productive regions by value per hectare.

The Cairns-Mossman sugarcane corridor, where the Mossman Sugar Mill processes the cane grown on the coastal lowlands between the rainforest and the sea, provides the heritage agricultural industry whose significance in shaping the region's cultural and social character extends beyond its current economic contribution. The Melanesian and South Sea Islander communities whose ancestors came to the Queensland sugarcane fields in the nineteenth century, and the Italian and other European immigrant communities whose descendants still farm cane in the region, contribute to the multicultural character that North Queensland's agricultural history produced.

The tropical fruit production of the Cairns region, including the mangoes, avocados, bananas, dragon fruit, and the range of exotic tropical fruits that the climate allows, provides the agricultural differentiation that distinguishes North Queensland's food production from the temperate south. The mango harvest, concentrated in the October to January period, is the most significant annual agricultural event in many of the region's farming communities, the fruit's premium on the national market reflecting the limited supply that Australia's small tropical agricultural zone constrains.

The aquaculture and fisheries sector, including the prawn trawling operations of the Coral Sea, the barramundi aquaculture of the coastal estuaries and ponds, and the mud crab and other species that the Cairns seafood market depends on, provides the marine production that complements the terrestrial agriculture of the region. The Cairns Fishing Fleet, operating from the Marlin Marina, provides the fresh catch that local restaurants and the retail seafood market values as the local provenance seafood that the tourist destination requires.

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