Macadamia as a commercial crop
Macadamia como cultivo comercial
- Date
- c. 1880-1890 · confidence low
- Place
- Rous Mill, New South Wales, Australia
- Credited to
- Bundjalung peoples and farmers of Queensland and New South Wales
- Field
- Life & health
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A tree of the Australian east coast whose nut was used by Aboriginal peoples. It was described scientifically in 1857-1858 and cultivated commercially from the late 19th century, though industrial-scale cultivation developed in Hawaii.
The first commercial plantations are placed in New South Wales in the 1880s, but the exact date is uncertain. It was Hawaii, from 1881 and especially in the 20th century, that developed the variety and the market.
What it led to
- a macadamia nut industry in Hawaii, Australia, South Africa and Kenya
- the first Australian native food plant cultivated worldwide
- improvement of cultivated varieties