Tree Crop April/May 2025

Products and services

Protecting crops from extreme weather

Australian farmers struggling to manage crops in extreme weather are encouraged to follow the lead of farmers around the world and increase anti-stress preventatives to safeguard crops and livelihoods.

Citrus - Featured Crop

Getting under the skin of black core rot

Fruit might look perfect on the outside, but when peeled open it’s sometimes rotten at the core. University of Queensland PhD student Zali Mahony is working hard with others to find out more about black core rot. Symptoms of black core rot are expressed close to or at harvest when it is too late to apply control measure.

Citrus - Featured Crop

Faster citrus orchard establishment using less water

The use of a BioStart biostimulant program in a commercial citrus orchard on red sands in NSW has increased soil moisture retention in the top 66 cm of soils, potentially reducing the irrigation required by 33 per cent.

Avocado - Featured Crop

Grant to strengthen avo industry

Avocados Australia has been awarded a $200,000 grant over two years through the ASEAN-Australia Centre’s 2024–25 Grants Program.

Citrus - Featured Crop

The hidden threat –stem end breakdown in citrus

When it comes to citrus, appearance is everything. A bright, smooth peel is often the first thing buyers notice, and anything less can be a dealbreaker. But for growers, maintaining that flawless look isn’t always easy – especially when facing the challenge of stem end breakdown.

News

Floods of fire ants surf south

Just as it seemed that things could not get much worse for householders and travellers affected by floods in Queensland and northern NSW, a new threat has emerged from aggressive fire ants floating south to affect new areas with their painful presence.

Know your pest

A taste of heaven

Many pests can skim through a life cycle in little more than a week and if a mum-pest can produce 50–100 progeny in another week and if, like mites, which we covered last issue, two thirds of those are female, you’ll need a calculator on steroids to work out the percentage increase in population per generation.

News

Plant scanner gets green thumbs up

One of the world's most advanced plant phenotyping technologies has made its way to Australia and is poised to revolutionise plant research and agriculture at the University of Southern Queensland (UniSQ).

News

Test to measure antibacterial property of honey

A tool developed by The University of Western Australia and commercialised by bee research centre Y-Trace can measure the antibacterial properties of honey with unprecedented accuracy.

Tree crop insights

Australia on alert Xylella fastidiosa found in China

Australian olive growers are stepping up preparations against the risk posed by the bacterium Xylella fastidiosa after its spread was confirmed in China.

News

New opportunity for Seastock

There might well be another gold rush in Australia – in mines given up as unproductive but which have suddenly attracted a lot of interest from new investors.

News

Citrus Australia condemns U.S. tariff

Citrus Australia has warned Donald Trump’s latest wave of global tariffs punishes both Australian growers and their consumers in the US.

Tree crop insights

Protecting orchards using agrivoltaics: a game changer for climate adaptation?

For apple and pear growers, too much sun can be a costly problem, as bleached, sunburned fruit won’t make the premium grade.

Marketing & export

Shelf life matters more than ever

while the expansion in international markets benefits growers and exporters, success isn’t just about producing good quality fruit in the orchard, it’s also about ensuring the fruit arrives in top condition to meet strict international standards and consumer expectations.

News

Unlocking grower solutions for Australia’sbiggest horticulture challenges

Mentoring to transform ideas into real solutions is one of the key offerings of a new program launched by Hort Frontiers.

Products and services

Vertento is a game changer for tree crop protection

In the ever evolving world of crop protection, Vertento insecticide emerges as a groundbreaking solution for tree crop growers.

News

How to bag aplastic waste problem

Regional and rural Australia has become the testing ground for the drive to recycle more of the 45,000 tonnes of soft plastic used in agriculture every year.

Avocado - Featured Crop

Translating tissue culture in avocado cultivars

A visit to Chile to demonstrate clonal propagation protocols is just the start of a growing agricultural pipeline for The University of Queensland’s world-leading tissue culture team.

News

Forecast chemical review timeframes extended

Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) has revised the expected publication dates for the proposed regulatory decisions on fipronil, neonicotinoids, and anticoagulant rodenticides.

Spraying equipment & application

Innovative spray solutions for macadamias

Among the various machines available, the GreenTech 6000L Spray System stood out for its innovative design, robust build quality, operational efficiency, and ability to deliver fungicides, pesticides, and foliar nutrition to tall and mid-sized macadamia trees.

Tree crop insights

Post-harvest nutrition crucial for next season success

While many growers stop applying nutrients after harvest, targeted post-harvest foliar treatments can significantly enhance fruit quality, tree resilience, and overall productivity in the next cycle.

Tree crop insights

FrostBoss secures growers with large scale innovation

As climate variability continues to challenge growers worldwide, FrostBoss remains at the forefront of frost protection solutions.

Spraying equipment & application

Take care with adjuvants when fruit thinning

Fruit growers and their advisers are reminded to take the utmost care and choose the right adjuvant before applying chemical thinners and plant growth regulators (PGRs) in their pome and stone fruit orchards this season.

Products and services

Hitman now an organic insecticide and fungicide

VICCHEM has announced the relaunch of Hitman Organic Insecticide &Fungicide – now a dual-purpose, organically approved contact insecticide and wetting agent which offers effective control of soft-bodied insects and mites, with no withholding period (WHP) for most applications and no residue concerns.

Spraying equipment & application

Innovation and Interlink go hand in hand

At Interlink Sprayers, innovation is more than a buzzword –director and design engineer Matthew McWilliams says it’s the foundation of everything we do.

Products and services

Long-acting herbicide shows its strength for vine and tree crops

A new, longer-acting pre-emergent grass and broadleaf weed herbicide for use in vine and tree crops already has demonstrated its strong effectiveness for growers in trials, including for control of weeds along property fence lines.

Citrus - Featured Crop

Citrus exporter banks on Samurai for premium pack-out

For leading Australian citrus grower and exporter Darren Minter of Victoria’s Minter Magic, several months of complete pest control from systemic insecticide Samurai ensures his export pack-out consistently meets China’s strict first-grade protocol.

Products and services

A ‘RAFT’ of benefits from Reefer Air Flow Technologies

It sounds so fundamentally simple, but Reefer Air Flow Technologies'(RAFT) new RAFT Kit significantly improves airflow in refrigerated containers by shifting direction from vertical to horizontal.