Spice technical report - Fennel

The market data available for fennel is limited and is often presented in a larger group of spices including juniper berries, anise seeds, badian, caraway, coriander and fennel (as whole seed, not ground or crushed). It was not possible to separate the fennel from this group data so in these instances the overarching trends have been assessed. Throughout this report juniper berries, anise seeds, badian, caraway, coriander and fennel will be referred to as the ‘group of spices.’ Australia’s domestic market for fennel and the similar others in the ‘group of spices’ is entirely supplied through imports. In 2018, Australia imported about 568 tonnes of this group of spices in question, worth about US$1.37 million. The majority of imported spices in Australia are produced in India and China (UN Com Trade, 2019). There is evidence of continuous growth in the quantity of imported spices (TrendEconomy, 2019) which suggests there is an increasing demand for fennel and similar spices in Australia. Calculations made by CQUniversity using the available data and trend analysis suggest that in 2025 the demand for fennel and similar spices in Australia will exceed 2000 tonnes per year. CQUniversity is supporting on-farm trials to evaluate the suitability of new fennel germplasm for the sub-tropical and tropical environments of Northern Australia.The new fennel varieties for the trial are provided by AgriVentis Pty Ltd. The CRCNA investment has enabled this work to move from laboratory trials to field trials across Northern Australia as part of multi-year project. This report provides the results of the first year of multi-location trials of three fennel genotypes grown at four locations across Queensland and the Northern Territory. It covers the in-field crop agronomy and the results of the yield and quality analysis. The results from the first year of trials will inform the second phase of activities in the form of on-farm verification of fennel technologies. The verification phase will be followed by commercial cropping, resulting in contract production in the third year of the project. Fennel was planted at varying dates over summer in 2019 and 2020, with a 194-255 day crop duration from planting until harvest. The establishment of the seedlings in the hot and humid conditions proved challenging and the seed was replanted later in summer at Biloela resulting in a crop that reached maturity and in Tully resulting in a second failure to establish. This is a long season crop (particularly for summer planted crop), taking more than six months to reach maturity, which shows promise as a perennial which might be able to harvested more than once. The seed yield of the three varieties across each of the four trial locations, ranged from 50 to 1574 kg/ha, with the highest seed yield recorded in Ayr followed by Katherine and Rockhampton, and the lowest yield recorded in Biloela. The seed yield between varieties varied significantly at Ayr, but not at Biloela, Rockhampton and Katherine. Varieties AVTFS#1 and AVTFS#2 recorded higher yield compared to AVTFS#3. However, it is important to note that the yield data presented in this report are derived from one year’s trial data only. The fennel crop produced biomass in the range of 525 to 9997 kg/ha. There was a significant difference in biomass between varieties at Ayr only, reflecting a relationship between the low yield and biomass experienced in AVTFS#3 when compared with AVTFS#1 and AVTFS#2. The quality attributes of the sesame seeds are reflected on the 1000 seed weight and seed density. The lower yielding genotypes AVTFS#3 recorded a greater 1000 seed weight compared to other varieties. The 1000 seed weight was low in Rockhampton and Biloela compared to Ayr and Katherine. The mean seed density (kg/m3) across the four test sites ranged from 318 to 425 kg/m3. The seed density was on average higher for AVTFS#1 and AVTFS#3 with AVTFS#2 recorded the lowest seed density. The next stage of research involves on-farm verification of selected genotypes from the first year for evaluation of the adaptability of the varieties to local farming conditions under farmer’s management. While the early results to date are encouraging, there are still challenges that need to be addressed before full-fledged production can commence, including weed control, optimisation of mechanical harvesting, and providing robust agronomic information including optimum planting times for the different regions and density of planting. The authors acknowledge the financial support of the Cooperative Research Centre for Developing Northern Australia and the support of its investment partners: the Western Australian, Northern Territory and Queensland Governments. We also gratefully acknowledge the financial and in-kind support of the project participants.