Healthy local boronia harvest
• Boronia in plantation. Photo supplied.
By Daisy Baker
October 14, 2020
Local Boronia grower Greg Lethborg has wrapped up another season, harvesting approximately three tonnes of flowers which Essential Oils Tasmania (EOT) will now process into highly sought-after fragrance and flavour.
Based in Jetsonville, Mr Lethborg is one of two experienced growers managing Boronia crops in Tasmania and EOT also oversees crops in the south of the state.
Essential Oils Tasmania business manager Lisa Lods said they have seen a healthy and steady growing season, with the milder climate and warmer spring temperatures bringing flowers on a little earlier than usual.
“Once the flowers are harvested, we extract the aromatic essence of the plant to produce an Absolute, which is used as a premium fragrance and flavour ingredient by companies worldwide,” Ms Lods said.
“It takes about 12.5 million flowers to produce one kilo of Boronia Absolute so it’s an extremely specialised process.
“And, although Boronia is a low yielding plant, the Absolute we produce for export globally is highly concentrated and small amount goes a very long way in a fine fragrance or flavour formulation.”
Mr Lethborg has been growing on and off for around 30 years now.
“I got started because I was just looking for something to grow on the land here. There were a few blokes up in Winnaleah I went to school with who were growing it so I did a trial area and went from there,” he said.
“I had about four hectares growing at one stage. It was pretty big in the 1990s but then the market changed and a lot of people got out of it.”
The plants have a lifespan of between zero and six years and growers wait until the whole area has died off before planting again as you can’t plant new plants among mature ones.
Mr Lethborg’s first crop finished in the late 1990s and he replanted in 2004.
After around six years when that finished, he was short of time so didn’t replant but when he was approaching retirement, he decided to put some more in as a hobby.
“One lot I panted in 2014, that’s finished now - we harvested the last if it this year. Another area I planted in 2015 and I’ve got a bit of that left,” he said.
“There’s only two to three years until these crops die off and then that’s it for me.
“I’m about the only independent grower left in Tasmania so I’m not sure what future holds for private landowner growers.”
Ms Lods said over the past 34 years EOT has worked alongside the University of Tasmania to advance Boronia farming techniques and develop the industry.
She said with a growing demand for the Boronia Absolute globally, and the unique value of the crop, they are committed to expanding production in the years ahead.