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Humpty Doo| Town in the Northern Territory of Australia, 47 km/29 mi southeast of Darwin; population (1996) 4,800. The main local industry is the production of vegetables, including tomatoes, melons, and pumpkins. Humpty Doo is a dormitory town for people working in Darwin. |
| The region was settled in the 1880s by Chinese immigrants who grew rice for Chinese miners working in the Northern Territory. The growing of rice ended in the 1890s until a joint Australian-US company, Territory Rice Ltd, was established in 1954. An experimental rice farm was developed on 303,000 ha/748,400 acres in 1955, although crops failed because of buffaloes, rats, birds, flooding, poor drainage, saline soils, and poor management. The company abandoned the project in 1959. |
| One story about the origin of the town's name suggests that it came from the first white settler's response to the question ‘how are things in the area?’; the reply was invariably ‘Everything's humpty doo’. |
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