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Bush
tucker
Until recently Macadamia Nuts and Desert
Quandongs were the only native Australian tree species grown
for food. However, over the last decade, the "rediscovery"
of bush foods has driven a national search for other commercial
opportunities. Today, several gourmet bush food wholesalers
supply foods ranging from ice cream flavouring, teas and preserves
to vinegars, sauces and vegetables.
Many bush tucker plants are incorporated into intensive horticultural
production systems for fresh food markets while others remain
less intensive and are more suitable for farm revegetation plantings.
Wattle seed, for example, is used in widely consumed products
such as bread and could be suitable for broad-scale production
from multipurpose farm forests. Current research is focused
on Black Wattle (Acacia mearnsii), Silver Wattle (A. decurrens)
and the Soft or Velvet Wattle (A. fulva). The economic viability
of wattle seed production depends on yields, harvesting methods
and farm gate prices. Wattle seed plantations need to be designed
to accommodate mechanical harvesting methods because they appear
to be critical in reducing production costs. Harvesting methods
currently being evaluated include ‘butt-shaking’,
stripping and biomass harvesting.
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aimer