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By CAITLIN CROWLEY
CHARLEVILLE could become home to Australia’s first commercial argan tree crop, if an experimental trial underway just outside the outback town proves successful.
The first argan trees have just been planted at a local trial site after several years of research driven by two entrepreneurial Toowoomba brothers, with support from Murweh Shire Council and SQ Landscapes.
Adnun and Albab Khan were already involved with a local charcoal manufacturing business, but it was their participation in the town’s successful Guinness World Record attempt to produce the world’s longest damper in 2019 which got them thinking about the region’s potential.
“Once we saw the Council working so positively we thought, what else can we do out here?” Adnun Khan said.
“We got talking to the Council and they were really interested in different, unique industries they could possibly set up in the town.”
The brothers began researching the region’s climate and soil types and found strong similarities between Charleville and Morocco, the home of the lucrative argan tree.
Argan oil is one of the world’s most expensive edible oils, widely used in cosmetics, hair care and pharmaceuticals.
The Khans have spent the last three years importing argan seeds and learning how to germinate them successfully, planting the first of around 200 trees in recent weeks at former DPI research station ‘Croxdale’, a 4500 hectare property 12kms west of Charleville.
SQ Landscapes is the trustee of ‘Croxdale’ and was approached by Murweh Shire Council to be part of the argan trial.
“Our reason for doing it’s really clear,” CEO Paul McDonald said.
“We know with the changing climate we’re facing, we do need to find new agriculture for our rangelands.
“Australia’s rangelands form 83% of the continent – if we can find new agricultural crops that are high value, low impact and suit the climate in our rangelands – which is essentially dry – it will hugely help the bush.”
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Adnun Khan said the group’s hoping to have the most genetically diverse collection of argan trees in Australia.
“We plan to work with different universities to develop a superior yielding argan plant that is specific to outback Queensland and Australian conditions,” he said.
The argan nut is similar to a macadamia, and Khan said they plan to use existing technology and harvesting techniques from Australia’s macadamia industry on the new crop.
The trial plants have also been treated with different kinds of fungi and “plant food” to see what combination proves most beneficial.
“We’ll spend the next year watching the growth differences between them,” Paul McDonald said.
“Right now it’s got very cold and these plants aren’t lovers of zero and minus temperatures, so we’re watching them closely for that.”
Argan isn’t the only crop the group is looking to trial in Charleville, investigating the potential of jojoba, carob and saffron.
Murweh Shire Mayor Shaun ‘Zoro’ Radnedge said the crop trial was the sort of project Council wants to support to attract investment to the region.
“It’s diversification – if there’s anything we’ve learnt from floods, droughts and covid, diversification is definitely the key to any business,” Zoro said.
“To attract that sort of investment, our idea as Council is to be as easy as we can to work with, to bring it to our communities.”