LATEST NEWS & MEDIA

01 Jan 2020 - Biosecurity Plan for the Tea Tree Industry

A Biosecurity Plan for the Tea Tree Industry has been prepared and released by Plant Health Australia. More »»

01 Nov 2019 - Essential Oils of the Pacific: Australian Tea Tree

CNN have recently released a video titled 'Essential Oils of the Pacific: Australian Tea Tree'. Please share this as widely as possible and help get the message out there. More »»

18 Aug 2019 - Future Drought Fund

The Australian Government has committed $3.9 billion to the Future Drought Fund; public consultation. To help design the Drought Resilience Funding Plan, register for the upcoming consultation. More »»

07 Aug 2019 - PHA director positions

Every two years, four of the eight non-executive director positions on the Plant Health Australia (PHA Board) are up for re-election. PHA commenced the advertising for upcoming PHA director positions and they have asked ATTIA, as PHA Members, to promote the advertisement. More »»

Harvesting

M alternifolia is grown in plantations and the entire aerial growth of the plantation tree is mechanically harvested using modified forage harvesters which chop the leaf and twigs into a finely cut mass ready for steam distillation of the oil. Plantation trees are usually harvested every 12-18 months. The trees are robust and with good husbandry some plantations have been able to harvest leaf from their trees for up to 27 years. All plantation operators and harvesters take care to preserve the natural environmental balance to sustain and maintain future resources.

A modified cotton picker harvesting Tea Tree for distillation

Flooded TT.JPG

Many M alternifolia plantations are on the floodplains of the Northern Rivers area in NSW, Australia. During flood periods harvest can be delayed, though Melaleuca spp are well adapted to the area and can tolerate extendeed periods of inundation without being harmed.