Research Station's important role in Coast's citrus industry

The NSW Department of Agriculture set up the Gosford Horticultural Research Station on a 78ha property at Narara that was previously part of the Strickland State Forest in 1912, to produce grapevine rootstocks resistant to the Phylloxera aphid.

A major outbreak of Phylloxera was at that time devastating some of the grape growing areas of NSW and Victoria. Work at the Station resulted in the production of phylloxera-resistant grape rootstocks after which its efforts were directed towards the citrus industry as, in the early 1900’s the Central Coast was a leading producer of citrus fruit in Australia. Until relatively recent times, citrus research was the backbone of the work undertaken at Narara.

Citrus production within the district has steadily declined in the last 40 to 50 years. Initially it receded from the coastal strip, as more and more land was subdivided for residential and rural-residential development. With the opening of the expressway to Sydney in the 60’s and electrification of the rail line, travel to and from Sydney became much simpler and quicker and residential development blossomed. The returns from citrus production were unable to match the developer’s dollar, and today the coastal area has regressed from commercial agriculture to become a residential zone.

In the last decade, the research work undertaken at Narara has moved into greenhouse fruit and vegetable production, the reduction in the use of pesticides by utilising Integrated Pest Management (IPM) techniques and work to provide access to markets both nationally and internationally by the establishment of better storage and handling protocols for fruit and vegetables.
Research work has now moved from the field into greenhouses and controlled environment rooms, making the planned move to the University of Newcastle’s Ourimbah campus an appealing opportunity.

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