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Welcome to ADFGA, the industry body for dragon fruit growers in Australia
News & Events
The sixth general meeting of the Association
May 9th, 2024
The sixth general meeting of the Australian Dragon Fruit Growers Association was held at Glasshouse Mountains, Sunshine Coast.
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Prof. Stephen Xu introduced the recent successful National Foundation for Australian-China Relations project for researcher reciprocal visits to Hainan University. Members discussed what activities could be included in the project. Michael Macpherson from AR&C Consulting made a speech on registration trials of two chemicals (one pesticide and one fungicide) which have been funded by the federal government to be labeled for use in dragon fruit. Rod Griffith from Jetippers delivered a presentation about the past dragon fruit 2024 season from the fruit distributor's perspective. Zen from Prodoz delivered a speech on the postseason plant care, maintenance and recommendations as a fertilizer specialist. CQU researcher Kevin presented the progress of his PhD study and preliminary results of dragon fruit research.
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All speech recordings and slides are available in the “Resource” section (membership only).
The fifth general meeting of the Association
October 19th, 2023
The fifth general meeting of the Australian Dragon Fruit Growers Association was held at Glasshouse Mountains, Sunshine Coast.
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The Financial Statement of the last year was reviewed and the office bearers were selected during the meeting. Zen from ProdoZ delivered a speech on introducing agronomic approaches and products to reduce the drought impact of the coming El Nino years. Rod from JETipper delivered a presentation about himself, JETipper’s operation as the distributor, and analyzing the market from perspective of distributor. Researcher Kevin from CQU reported his research findings on dragon fruit shelf life and antioxidant activities.
All speech recordings and slides are available in the “Resource” section (membership only).
The fourth general meeting of the Association
May 23th, 2023
The fourth general meeting of the Australian Dragon Fruit Growers Association was held at Glasshouse Mountains, Sunshine Coast.
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Dr. Stephen Xu relocated to the Northern Territory in the coming weeks to take on a new position as a professor. He will continue to support our association and our industry. Besides, Michael Macpherson from AR&C Consulting delivered a speech on chemical registration looking to develop a data package to register an insecticide for insect pests and a fungicide for fungal pathogens targeted on dragon fruit. Link of the speech is in 'Resource' under 'Member Area' (Membership only)
The third general meeting of the Association
November 23th, 2022
The third general meeting of the Australian Dragon Fruit Growers Association was held at Glasshouse Mountains, Sunshine Coast.
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Three new Affiliate Members were introduced and welcomed. The new President, Treasurer and Secretary of ADFGA were selected during the meeting. ADFGA expressed gratitude to Jim Nie for his contribution to the establishment and support of the association as the former chairman.
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Besides, Zen from ProdoZ introduced their specialized products for dragon fruit and Kevin Chen introduced his research plan regarding the nutritional benefits of dragon fruit. The recording of the meeting will be available in the "Resources" under the "Member Area".
Kallee Buchanan from ABC News recently interviewed us on the benefit of joining our association and the current situation of the Australian dragon fruit industry.
Grower and association secretary Jim Li and Jasmine said, in the past, growers had struggled to access information and markets, and now the ADFGA was formed to help this.
Wholesaler Richard Birtill said demand exploded in the past three years as chain stores stocked the fruit, and dragon fruit is high in antioxidants and considered a superfood.
Sunshine Coast grower Bob Martin shared that he did face challenges, it was a relatively easy crop to get started, and having access to an association gave new growers a better chance.
CQUniversity associate professor Stephen Xu specializes in horticulture production systems and he said as the climate changes, there could be advantages for farmers to consider the crop.
The annual meeting of the Association
August 26th, 2022
The annual meeting of the Australian Dragon Fruit Growers Association was held at Glasshouse Mountains, Sunshine Coast.
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Current office bearers will step down from the full-time roles as part-time, and new office bearers will be nominated and elected in the next meeting. Association president Jim Nie and Treasurer Marcus will move to a casual position from now on. The nominees for the respective positions will be elected in the next general meeting.
The new membership fee payment was passed, and the Federal biosecurity officer made a presentation on introducing the risk assessment of dragon fruit from the Philippines. Peter Dal Santo, the consultant of AgriFutures introduced the minor permit application and label registration for chemicals.
