Phillip Mansell Non Penetrative Fruit Grading

Rob Wheatley, Agronomist, Russell Mansell and Phillip Mansell

Phillip Mansell at Back O Bourke Fruits is trialing a new grading system for rockmelons. The grading machine utilises an infra red beam which can measure the sugar content of the fruit without physically penetrating the fruit. This has enabled the farm to turn out ‘guaranteed sweet’ fruit. Phillip Mansell, General Manager at Back O Bourke Fruits says that while it was an economic decision to research this type of technology, producers need a secure water supply to warrant future effort in the same direction. “We have spent the money up front in many areas of production including water use efficiencies, we have over 1000 acres of drip irrigation, all our farming is done under drip, yet we are under continuing pressure to give more. The improvements we make improve our product at the farm gate and subsequently increase the quality of the product on the plates of Sydneysiders”