Facts and figures

• Carob trees are best grown in conditions similar to the Mediterranean climate and alkaline soils from which they originate, and are tolerant of drought, salinity and frost
• The Australian carob industry has been evolving since the early 1980s, with the export industry only established in 2014, production levels are low compared with other participants in the world market
• Carob trees, seeds and pods, have a multitude of uses, spanning dozens of industries
• A slow growing crop, carob trees can take up to 10 years to reach full commercial production levels

Production status

While carob is grown in six states and territories of Australia, the key production regions are western New South Wales, southern South Australia and the northern agricultural region of Western Australia. New plantings are in western areas of New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria, and in the agricultural areas of South Australia and Western Australia.

The growing area is about 400ha, mainly located in the states of South Australia (34%), and Western Australia (20%). In the other states there are an estimated 30,000 seedling carobs within and adjacent to fenced grazing areas for sheep and cattle.

Map of current and potential growing regions

The kibble may be milled or ground and sieved to produce caffeine-free carob powder, which is a natural sweetener used as a healthy substitute for cocoa powder in baking and food manufacture, as a food stabiliser, or a darkening agent. It is also used to make molasses and alcohol, and as a substitute for coffee.

Carob pods on the tree are used as supplementary stock feed for grazing stock (cattle, sheep, goats and donkeys), particularly when trees are planted in windbreaks along the edge of the paddock. The tough bark is resistant to ring-barking by grazing stock. Although carob is not a nitrogen fixing species it is quite deep rooted, and  tolerates considerable drought.

Carob trees are often used in landscaping for street planting, privacy screens and as an ornamental shade tree; as well as on farms to provide windbreaks around homesteads, orchards and paddocks. The tree is fire resistant and able to regenerate after burning. In Spain carob trees were planted near villages to slow down the pace of grass fires.

A minor carob product is the moderately dense wood (carouge), which is used as a specialty furniture timber and in some cases as firewood.

Planting and crop management

Carobs seeds or seedlings are planted in spring in full sun, with carob seeds germinating best at a soil temperature of 22–26°C. Polythene socks or ‘growtubes’ can accelerate the growth of seedlings. Grafted trees are not yet readily available in Australia and will speed up the orchard establishment time, as carob is a very slow-maturing crop, taking 6–7 years before bearing fruit. A suggested spacing of 10x10m (100 trees/ha) allows for orchard maintenance and maturation space for each plant.

Pollination can be maximised by planting one hermaphrodite tree (e.g. Clifford or Santa Fe) for every eight females, or grafting male or hermaphrodite scionwood onto female trees. Hermaphrodites have a longer flowering period than males.

Slow release fertilisers or manures applied at planting will provide adequate nutrition for seedlings. Application of nitrogen, phosphorus and zinc may be beneficial to mature trees, however individual tree requirements should be monitored through leaf tissue analysis, and fertiliser rates should be tailored to individual sites. In Spain, leguminous annual crops are frequently grown between carob trees, and up 3–4 tonnes of manure per hectare are applied every 3–4 years.

Pruning is required to control suckers during the early stages of growth, and again later when branches are damaged or become overcrowded. Irrigation can boost production when rainfall is inadequate for commercial orchards. Further information on planting and crop management is provided in Carob Agroforestry in the low rainfall Murray Valley, and the website of Carobs Australia Inc.

Weeds, pests, and diseases

There are no major pests and diseases of carob in Australia, other than the carob moth, which has become a major pest of carobs in both Western Australia and South Australia. Carob moth attacks a range of hosts, including acacia, and fruit and nut trees. Removal and destruction of larvae infested pods from the carob trees is important and organic insecticides can be applied to kill the larvae.

Routine spray schedules can prevent build-up however there are no pesticides registered specifically for carob moth. Affected pods can be heat treated and put into insect-proof or cold storage. Moth traps, lures and mating disruption techniques can be installed to control the adult moths. More information is provided in the Western Australia Department of Agriculture and Food’s fact sheet Carob Moth, and by contacting their offices.

A potential pest of carobs is citrus red scale, which is controlled by the Aphytis wasp. The Rutherglen bug has been reported to destroy seedlings in Western Australia through defoliation, so close monitoring of establishing seedlings is necessary in regions where the bug exists. Fungi will attack carob seed and seedlings, however establishing orchards with grafted stock will eliminate this issue.

Grazing animals are a pest for seedlings and should be excluded from young orchards. Rodents may attack stored pods and kibble, which should be kept in rodent proof storage facilities.

Despite potential threats, Australia’s largest and most successful grower and exporter of carob uses no insecticides or pesticides, and has achieved organic certification.

• hand-harvesting equipment — poles, ladders and collection buckets or tubs
• mechanical harvesting equipment — an adapted almond harvester
• aeration tables for drying the harvested pods, assembled using nets and poles
• an insulated rodent-proof shed if storage is required
• if processing, washing facilities and a carob kibbler, mill and roaster.

Value-adding by the farmer can be achieved most successfully through the purchase of processing equipment, including a carob kibbler, mill and roaster, however the outlay must be proportional to the volume of harvest to make it profitable (and maybe take advantage of the opportunity to provide processing services to other producers). Value adding can also be achieved through the manufacture of a wide variety of food products such as baked goods, confectionery, syrup, pastes and marinades.

Packaged whole pods, both fresh and dried, are sold for human consumption; however sales of this product in Australia are limited, and the few sales were mainly in farmers markets.

The company’s product has been described by the food industry as having superior flavour and quality compared with imported product, which has been attributed to the selection and utilisation of high yielding cultivars and use of modern processing equipment & procedures.

The potential for other producers to start exporting will be realised as established crops mature and more processing plants are developed on farm.

Before buying new land to plant orchards, a thorough investigation of the land’s suitability for a horticultural enterprise and its cropping or land use history should be undertaken. This may include identifying a history of chemical contamination (and residue levels) as some export licences may be withheld on products grown on land where chemical residues exist. Potential disease risks should also be investigated.

Some disease pathogens can survive in the soil for many years, so information about previous disease outbreaks will assist determining which trees are suitable for planting. This information can generally be obtained from the relevant state planning authority. Growers are also responsible for regularly inspecting their orchards for notifiable pests and diseases and reporting any incidence to the relevant state agriculture department.

When planting new orchards and establishing additional on-farm infrastructure or access roads, liaison with the state government agencies responsible for planning, native vegetation laws and water licences will be necessary. Some land use applications will also need to be considered by the relevant local government authority.

Land ownership in itself does not provide owners the right to clear native vegetation for orchard establishment, therefore an approval or a licence to clear land will be required from the relevant state department of agriculture, environment or planning. Failure to have the relevant approvals may result in prosecution.

When processing raw product for value adding, consideration must be given to food standards regulations, as administered by Food Standards Australia New Zealand and set out in Chapter 3 of its Food Standards Code. Information about certification can be found at, but is not limited to, the websites of Freshcare and HACCP.

Esbenshade, H., & Wilson. (1986) Growing Carobs in Australia. Goddard & Dobson, Melbourne– out of print; however, available from all State Libraries

Batlle, I., & Tous, J. (1997) Carob Tree Ceratonia siliqua L.. Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research, Gatersleben/International Plant Genetic Resources Institute, Rome, Italy.