Growers upbeat on cherry season

Australian cherry growers are “fairly optimistic” about the forthcoming season, Cherry Growers Australia president Tom Eastlake believes.

Horticulture’s quiet achiever

Polyram DF, the Group M3 fungicide from BASF, is one of horticulture’s great crop protection all-rounders. It is registered to control over twenty diseases across a wide variety of crops, including pome and stone fruit, mangoes, bananas, grapes and most commercially produced vegetables.

Expansion into Mahachanok mangoes pays off with huge harvest and high demand

A Top End mango grower says their decision to invest in Mahachanok mangoes is paying dividends, with the trees producing 50 per cent more fruit than any other varieties. Tou Saramat Ruchkaew owns the breeding rights for the Thai mango variety in Australia and has spent the past few years expanding her orchard with only that variety. Some of those trees were harvested for the first time this year.

Almond orchards give bees weakened by drought a vital boost during pollination season

While the word drought conjures images of cattle skulls and withered crops, few consider the effect a drought can have upon the insect kingdom. But the devastation brought by the big dry has been revealed during the annual bee muster in north-west Victoria, which concluded in August.

Field determination of sugar and dry matter in nectarines

Monitoring fruit quality over time using near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy technologies offers the opportunity to correct agronomic practices and determine the right moment for fruit picking.

New fruit fly handbook and website

Get familiar with the diversity of fruit flies worldwide with a new handbook and website that makes identification easier – hopefully aiding in the early detection of exotic pest incursions.

New varieties flesh out mango offering

Mango harvest has started in the Ord Valley as packing houses pump out boxes of fruit to be delivered to markets across Australia.

Mangoes hit the shops in ‘extra flavoursome’ season

Tropical mango madness is taking hold, with fruit as cheap as $1 and claims that this year’s crop could be the tastiest on record.

New start-up sets sights on fruit fly

The Coalition Government is helping Australian farmers through a new tech start-up taking aim at Australia’s biggest biosecurity barrier to trade: the fruit fly.

Australia's citrus industry set for another record year but nurseries run short of tree stock

Citrus growers across Australia have good reason to celebrate, with prices and global demand predicted to hit new records.

How to double your mango tree yields

A NEW trial could see mangoes grown in an alternative way around the country. The project will look at methods to potentially double the per-hectare productivity on mango farms.

Stingless bees put to use in new study aimed at improving rambutan yields

Stingless bees that were rescued from a building before it was demolished in the Top End are now being put to use in a research project focusing on improving rambutan yields.

Govt on North West citrus canker case

The State Government has sent surveillance teams to the North West to confirm the absence of citrus canker.

Avocado growers say prices have hit their peak while supply continues to skyrocket

In good news for avocado lovers, they have likely paid the most they will ever pay for an avocado during summer, and the popular fruit will keep getting cheaper.

Separating ripe and unripe avocados results in higher sales

A new initiative to stop shoppers squeezing avocados to test the fruit's ripeness has resulted in a halving of bruised fruit and higher avocado sales.