Hills climb mountains for rare fruit

MICHAEL MADIGAN A DEAL with the Bolivian Government has brought one of the world’s more exotic fruits to a farm outside Townsville, and established a beachhead for a multimillion-dollar export trade.

Anyone doubting the region’s capacity for innovation should visit the achacha plan- tation, overseen by Bruce and Helen Hill, the 21st century face of north Queensland farming.

Townsville is now the headquarters of the Australian Cooperative Research Centre, stimulating agriculture in northern Australia, which means the Hills’ work helps to create pathways for northern Australian agriculture.

The couple convinced the Bolivian Government to allow a plant, regarded by the people of Bolivia as part of their nation’s heritage, to be grown in North Queensland in what was, essentially, the first international extradition agreement for a fruit.

Today, the former Sydney couple preside over a 110ha plantation, 30 minutes south of Townsville, where 16,000 trees produce fruit that makes its way across the globe, from Marks & Spencers stores in Britain to Chinese New Year celebrations in Sydney.

The achacha, or “achachairu’’, which in Bolivia means “honey kiss’’, resembles a lychee and combines a sweetness with an acidity to rival the mangosteen of India.