Alternative commercial crops?

[Illustro]

¡Hola!

I don't want to give too much away here, so I shall be as indirect as possible..

Someone..we shall call him Pablo, has been given the opportunity to take over a well established horticultural business that for certain reasons has to start growing a different crop in the next couple years, the business consists of close to 1000 hectares of prime fertile growing land, in hardiness zone 10b-11a, 1100-1300mm precipitation per year. The business has substantial monetary and infrastructural backing, so there should be no problems catering to any special needs to establish and process the crop/product.

What Pablo is looking for is something not contentious, which can be easily grown organically, and which can be easily sold under his own label, so far Pablo has been thinking about growing Yerba Mate, and making a very high-quality boutique label tea - but this idea just doesn't quite cut the mustard for Pablo, it seems just a bit too risky as Yerba Mate market is still quite small.

Other alternatives that have been considered is Chinese tea, goji berries, coffee (though C. arabica would probably produce sour beans in his climate), and Pitaya (dragon fruit).

Any ideas for Pablo?

Muchas gracias, amigos!

[tripsis]

You could consider Lepidium peruvianum (maca), though not sure on the sort of yields that can be expected. It grows fine at low altitude, but I expect it wouldn't handle flooding too well.

[planthelper]

¡Hola!

so far Pablo has been thinking about growing Yerba Mate, and making a very high-quality boutique label tea - but this idea just doesn't quite cut the mustard for Pablo, it seems just a bit too risky as Yerba Mate market is still quite small.

Other alternatives that have been considered is Chinese tea, goji berries, coffee (though C. arabica would probably produce sour beans in his climate), and Pitaya (dragon fruit).

 

all your ideas so far, are things i would never attempt under your circumstances.

hierba mate, market is far too competetive for you to enter, and the value of mate is very low.

same goes for your other products, and for the dragon fruit your place might be a bit too cold, if commerciall crops are your aim.

if i were you, i would grow a niche market crop, and there are many of them.

and i would start off small, and find out if it works first, otherwise failure will mean you will loos all of your investments.

[Frank Costanza's Lawyer]

Don't know much about its climate requirements apart from that it grows in the Amazon, but have you considered Acai palms? There is already a well established international market that as far as I know relies entirely on import from South America. This results in only dried or powdered product being available in Australia. It's cost has skyrocketed since it has been declared a 'superfood' and there is high demand in the weight loss market (I don't think overindulgence is going to disappear voluntarily). On the flip side though the income from Acai supports a number of tribes, whilst at the same time they are being grossly underpaid for their efforts considering the massive profits being made.

Maybe Cacao? Huge market, diminishing supply due to droughts in Africa. Once again the possibility to take the little bread left from the already starving.

Some native crops are increasing in popularity, Davidson's plum and the likes.

Use some space to make high quality compost, combine food scraps with high carbon materials (all free to obtain) mix it together and let it rot, turn every so often, bag and repeat.

Or fuck it all, plant a native forest and convince the Gov or a big biz to buy it's carbon offset potential on a fixed term contract (maybe 5-10 years), whilst creating some green tourism style things to make some extra cash.

Namaste

FCL

[Illustro]

Some interesting ideas and good input so far guys, cheers!

Maca sounds interesting, I will definitely look into it more tripsis!

@PH: yeah, those are the kinds of problems that put Pablo off, it would take a lot of effort and money to launch a good label. Those other crops were just what Pablo had previously researched, and came to the same conclusions as you.. The climate in his location is fairly good for growing stuff, it is a much different to the place you may be thinking about PH! The climate where Pablo is is practically identical to Melbourne, just it doesn't get quite as hot during summer, and with far more precipitation!

And Pablo definitely will not be jumping right in, there will be many trials over the next couple years.

@FSL: Apparently Acai are hardy down to 9B, so should do fine, Pablo has many tropical and subtropical plants like Inga edulis (ice cream bean), Coffea arabica, Carica papaya (paw paw), Solanum betaceum (tamarillo), Ceratonia siliqua (carob), Murraya koenigii (curry leaf) and Cinnamomum camphora (camphor) growing like absolute fiends in the open in his backyard, so it will probably grow fine, just Pablo has heard that a lot of the info on Acai is unsubstantiated and often downright lies, seems a bit too risky to get into - the balloon may pop any day.

Cacao would be interesting, though it would probably be a tad too cool at Pablos to grow it commercially, seeing as cocoa is such a particular product.

Haha, that last idea is brilliant though! Pablo has also considered starting a massive Ethnobotanical Garden, all properly landscaped and displayed, charge people to visit some of the most interesting plants in the world! Its totally doable, just Pablo can imagine many of the plants would get ripped-off all the time..

[Slybacon]

What about hemp?

[bℓσωηG]

Quinoa maybe

[Illustro]

Haha, yeah, but hemp is a bit too contentious for Pablo, the crop needs to be approved by the board [of trustees], it would be totally awesome to do, but unfortunately it probably won't happen.

Ah blowing, perfect idea! Pablo has been thinking about growing quinoa personally for a long time, just he never has got around to buying the seed, nor has Pablo thought about growing it commercially; he will definitely look into the facts and figures on that one!

EDIT: quinoa, not quincho lol

Edited August 8, 2011 by Illustro Verum

[planthelper]

so far me know your climat and a few things which grow well at your place, but i must know about your drainage aspects and if you have dams and/or irrigation water available?

cphomandra betacea, obviously grows well at your place, if you irrigate them they are a crop with a good return.

but fruits are more trouble than herbs.

i think cuttflowers make good money, but i guess it would be very difficult to enter the market.

anyway, your place feels to me as ideal to grow brugmansias, and you could market them with ease.

[Illustro]

Drainage is perfect on most of Pablo's land, though there is one reasonable size section with really bad drainage for some reason. Pablo has a full irrigation setup and lots of groundwater, though it is only needed infrequently.

Tamarillo sure does grow well, it is like a weed, there are seedlings everywhere, but the industry is facing crisis where Pablo is.

The problem with cut flowers, is there is absolutely no way they can be grown organically, if you want to export them that is, that is why Pablo is interested in processed crops like Yerba, because there is no scrutiny on how the fruit/flowers/leaves look, no pesticides are needed to ensure a 'good looking' final product.

Brugmansias? Tapping the entheogen market, or is there some other use for them Pablo hasn't heard of?

Great suggestions though people, just the kind of stimulation Pablo's brain needs!

[Zaka]

Irie,

How about Moringa?

It's a fast grower, easily dried & stored....

And it's becoming a very popular superfood.

Respect,

Z

[Zen Peddler]

tomatoes mate - beefsteaks!!

Gojis are a no go - aint no money in them now days.

[planthelper]

backhousia citriodora, the lemon myrtle.

i guesstimate the market is undersupplied and organic is the way to sell it.

there are already big plantations around, so you could ask them for ideas....

[Illustro]

@Zaka - I can't believe Pablo has never heard of Moringa before, it sounds awesome, great suggestion. Pablos climate seems to be fairly well suited to it, a very promising lead indeed!

@PH - B. citriodora looks really interesting, sounds like that could be grown organically really easily, with many different uses, seems like it could be promising!

Cheers guys!

[tripsis]

One of the Australian pepper bushes could be good to. The Tasmanian pepper bush (Tasmannia lanceolata) might be alright where you are, though not sure of it upper limits in terms of temperature. The Dorrigo pepper bush (Tasmannia stipitata) is more tropical. With forty species in the genus, there should be one appropriate to your climate.

[planthelper]

most interressting, this search flamed my imagination about this plant. http://www.diemenpepper.com/plant.html

i'm looking for alternatives aswell and this thread means i will plant more lemon myrtle at my place.

i think we have established that many australien native plants have enormous potential.

a new spice or fragrance and with health benefits on top of that, bring it on, sam!!!

australien plants are a treasure trove, which hasen't been "exploidet" yet.

[tripsis]

Another very worthwhile Australian genus to consider is Microcitrus (i.e. the finger limes). There are several species, the most common being M. australasica, of which many cultivars exists, ranging from black skin with pink flesh, to green with green flesh, to red with pink flesh and yellow with yellow flesh. They are delicious and store well.

[planthelper]

watch out so the kiwis don't steal our produce and make them there own, hehehe.

many people think kiwi fruit is a native to nz....

[tripsis]

True, we had better edit our comments!

I know, it's frustrating that many people don't realise that 'kiwifruit' are actually native to China and would have gone by the name of 'Chinese gooseberry' had NZ for appropriated and marketed the fruit as they're own.

[Illustro]

Those Tasmannia's sound pretty cool! Sounds very similar in ways to Pseudowintera colorata, except P. colorata doesn't taste very peppery, its got more of that delicate, rich, full-bodied flavour of the terminals of a 9v battery.

Microcitrus is cool huh? That would be something Pablo would like to grow out of curiosity, really quite unique, Aus has got quite a few interesting species derived from well-known counter parts, like Coffea brassii, quite cool.

I thought kiwifruit were native to NZ? Aren't they called kiwifruit because they were pollinated by flocks of kiwis that hover and lick nectar like hummingbirds?

Yeah silly NZers though, glad I don't live there, I went there on a trip once, and they kept warning me about a guy called Murray, they kept saying things like "make sure not to go alone into Murray neighborhoods", "watch out for Murrays at night, they might mug you" etc etc. Dunno who this guy Murray is, but he seems to not be very well liked.

At least zebras are native to NZ tho, that's one thing they can claim.

[Darklight]

Another very worthwhile Australian genus to consider is Microcitrus (i.e. the finger limes). There are several species, the most common being M. australasica, of which many cultivars exists, ranging from black skin with pink flesh, to green with green flesh, to red with pink flesh and yellow with yellow flesh. They are delicious and store well.

 

I think they'd ship pretty well too, another important consideration

They're vegan caviar, I adore them