At the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development’s research station this week, the first of three trial varieties is being picked and will also go to market.

The 1243, 1201 and 4069 mangoes are species which have been specially bred and developed in top-end trials across Queensland, the Northern Territory and WA for several years.

 Last year, the new mangoes grown at the Kununurra research station were sent to market for the first time. The 1243 variety drew prices of $35 a tray early in the season, the 1201 about $30 during a period when the market was flooded with NT mangoes and the 4069 fetched about $40 as a late harvest.

DPIRD development officer Tara Slaven said the mangoes were hand-picked and sent to market to get feedback from buyers on what kind of prices they could fetch.

She said her focus was to get better yields, increase the number of people growing the different varieties and collect data on the fruit’s suitability for export.