Darwin, Northern Territory

The melon industry in the Northern Territory supplies around 23% of the Australian market. During the mild NT winter, the Territory’s dry season provides ideal circumstances for our farmers to grow high-quality melons. When it’s too cold for southern growers to grow melons, producers in the Territory take advantage of their growing circumstances to provide vital interstate markets.

The Territory grows mostly seedless watermelons, with some rockmelon and honeydew melons thrown in for good measure. Melons are grown all over the Northern Territory, even in the dry areas south of Tennant Creek. The melon business is a large employment in the plant-based industry, contributing around $69.4 million to the local economy.

Picking watermelon is a physically difficult and repetitive task. You may be part of the harvesting team, which involves cutting the watermelons from the vine, or you could be part of the carrying team, which is in charge of getting the watermelons from the field to a vehicle. This frequently resembles a production line in which watermelons are passed from one person to the next until they reach the car! Not the first choice for the work adverse.