A watermelon grower from New South Wales will lead the development of 5,700 hectares near the Northern Territory town of Larrimah. NT Land Corporation has chosen Larrimah Farms Pty Ltd, which is a consortium between Jamie Schembri and a South Australian family, to develop the Larrimah Agricultural Precinct. The land is the second of three planned areas the NT government-owned corporation has released for agricultural development.
Mr Schembri originally farmed in the Riverina region of NSW but has been growing melons in the NT's Douglas Daly region for the past two years. He said Larrimah Farms would initially be looking to grow melons, then trial some broadacre crops.
Larrimah Farms will need to apply for a new water extraction licence and land clearing permits. Over 1,400 hectares is suitable for intensive irrigated agriculture, according to NT Land Corporation.
Source: abc.net.au