In the red soils near Ali Curung, 150 kilometres south of Tennant Creek, the team at Desert Springs are busy planting watermelons. It is the most southern watermelon farm in the Northern Territory and its manager, Paul McLaughlin, is looking forward to another strong season.

Mr McLaughlin said it has been a hot summer with many days over 40 degrees, meaning the planting is done at night. "The crop we're planting now will be harvested in April and May," he said. "We expect up to 6,000 tonnes this year."

Like many areas in the Red Centre, the Desert Springs farm has enjoyed a lot of rain since Christmas, recording around 400 millimetres. Mr McLaughlin said it had transformed the surrounding country and will have benefits for his watermelons.

"We'd finished picking the watermelons before the rain came, so that wasn't too bad and rain helps get the land ready for the next crop," he said. "We're an irrigation farm so we don't count on getting rain. We expect up to 6,000 tonnes this year."

In a few weeks, Mr McLaughlin will start planting chia, after successfully trialling the crop last year. The tiny, omega-3 rich seed will grow on rotation with the melons.

"We learned a lot last year so we can refine a few things this year to try and get our yields up a bit higher."

He told the NT Country Hour that other crops are being considered for the area.

"We're going to trial pomegranate," he said. "I think there's a window for mangoes as well. Another crop that would suit here, but is labour intensive, is asparagus. When we'd be harvesting, there's no asparagus in Australia so it's worth quite a bit of money at that time."

Source - http://www.freshplaza.com