The cost of employing the most basic worker on a Sunday will increase from $107.30 to $214.65, while the Saturday rate will rise to $161.

Growers can only avoid the new Saturday and Sunday penalty rates of 150 per cent and 200pc if their workers sign a majority agreement.

And the ordinary working week in the NSW horticulture sector will move from seven days a week to five.

Fruit and vegetable growers in NSW who employ staff must also introduce a new working week, pay arrangements and casual loading rates

following the introduction of the Horticulture Industry Award 2010 at the start of this year.

Sydney-based fruit and vegetable king and high profile racehorse owner, Nick Moraitis, said more expensive weekend rates could be dangerous because Monday markets, along with Fridays, were the busiest of the week.

“The thing is, you need to feed people seven days a week,” Mr Moraitis said.

Meetings will be held to educate growers about the potentially “confusing” changes and there will be more pressure on pickers going into the industry to get quick or get out.

Partnerships and sole traders will be given one year to move to the new award while federal employers (Pty Ltd and Ltd companies) must start serious changes by July.

The chairman of the NSW Farmers Association’s horticulture committee, Peter Darley, said piece workers would need to show they were fast enough to get employment.

Under the new award, slower workers would be paid $154.30 (which includes a 15pc extra piece worker rate and 25pc casual loading) no matter how many bins they picked, whereas, for example, they were paid $30 for picking a 470kg bin of apples.

Mr Darley said it would encourage operators to avoid employing less efficient workers.

However, the new award does have a grey area allowing employers to pay workers less than this, and by the bin, if the worker was deemed to be a below average picker.