Tree Crop News

Pome fruit - Featured Crop

A very happy place

Anthony Rullo had little experience in producing his own cherries (despite growing up surrounded by a cherry orchard) until three years ago when he embraced the opportunity to plant his own trees and simultaneously trial some cutting-edge technology.

Pome fruit - Featured Crop

Netting, rain cover and solar innovations to protect orchard crops

Protecting orchard crops from hail, rain and excessive sunlight is becoming increasingly important to avoid fruit damage. Hail and extreme heat events appear to be more common as our climate is changing and rain spoilage is an ongoing issue in stone fruit crops, particularly cherry.

Pome fruit - Featured Crop

Packaging (MAP) for stone fruit export

By John Lopresti and Glenn Hale - horticultural consultants Fruitful Insights Australian stone fruit is exported by both air and sea freight typically in plastic film liners ranging from perforated high humidity (HH) bags to modified atmosphere packaging (MAP).

Pome fruit - Featured Crop

Nutrient management for pome fruit

Australian Pear & Apple Limited says the key to a targeted approach to nutrient management is understanding your soil, leaf composition and nutrient levels in fruit pre-harvest.

Macadamias - Tropical trees - Featured Crop

Science helps speed up cultivar release

Future-proofing a burgeoning macadamia industry is the focus of a long-term breeding program led by researchers at The University of Queensland.

Cherries - Featured Crop

Growers benefit from industry workshops

The Australian Fruit Growers Victorian Conference provided an opportunity for Dr Greg Lang from Michigan University to visit NSW and Victorian cherry growing regions while he was in the country.

Cherries - Featured Crop

Aussie cherries front and centre at Asia Logistica

Tasmanian cherry growers, are making their presence felt at this years Asia Fruit Logistica event in Hong Kong.

Cherries - Featured Crop

Stop the rot

Blossom blight and brown rot are common diseases found in Australian cherry orchards. Blossom blight reduces the number of viable flowers and damages fruiting shoots, reducing crop yield.

Avocado - Featured Crop

Size and shape key to premium avocado prices

A plant growth regulator (PGR) which targets increased fruit size and shape is helping Australian avocado producers yield high returns from their orchards in increasingly challenging farming times.

Cherries - Featured Crop

New product outshines to reduce cherry cracking

A new trial of Biostart Foliacin, conducted on a north Victorian commercial cherry orchard in 2023, was undertaken to compare the product with a commonly used competitor also used for reducing cherry cracking.

Featured Crop

Pinata Farm becomes Hall of Fame pinup

Fourth-generation farming business, Queensland’s Piñata Farms, has been inducted into the Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame for outstanding leadership and innovation in Australia’s food production industry spanning more than 60 years.

Mangoes - Featured Crop

Career change strikes gold at Evaldar

A Central Queensland couple who changed careers from mining and media to become mango growers have been named Honey Gold Grower of the Year by leading producer Piñata Farms.

Nuts - Featured Crop

Jurassic bunya nut makes its mark in 2024

In case you’ve never heard of it, the bunya nut is not just a culturally significant Australian nut – dating back to Jurassic times – it could have a big future thanks to University of Queensland-led research revealing its substantial health benefits.

Almonds - Nuts - Featured Crop

Neutrog’s work on almond rot

The Neutrog R&D team has been working in South Australia’s Century Orchards for a number of seasons to explore how biologicals can be used to improve production with a specific trial relating to the impact of Hull Rot.

Almonds - Nuts - Featured Crop - Fungicides

Strategic use of fungicide urged

There has been strong uptake of new alternative fungicides across the almond industry, however careful application has been urged to avoid resistance and maintain their long-term effectiveness.