Tree Crop News

Avocado - Insect & mite control

Smashing success for avocados

The WA avocado season ends in February and the region’s growers have indicated this season fared well compared to previous years. Growers put the success down to the mild weather conditions which allowed a higher volume of produce to grow.

Pome fruit

Summer management for quality

As the temperatures in the orchard start to rise, AgFirst’s John Wilton looks at how to minimise sunburn, avoid nutrition-related problems and improve colour towards lifting quality and packouts at harvest.

Marketing & export

Tariff cuts and better access for Aussie farmers on Jan 1

Tariff cuts and better overseas access for Australian farmers from Jan 1, giving farmers choice when they want to sell their produce.

Avocado - Marketing & export

Aussie avocados now exported to Japan

AUSTRALIAN avocados are to be exported to Japan, cementing new trade relations and market opportunities for horticultural products. The “Aussie Avo” was ceremoniously launched at a high-profile event at the Australian embassy in Tokyo recently.

Insect & mite control

Biobest and Australian company Bugs for Bugs team up through equity deal

Biobest Group NV and Bugs for Bugs Pty Ltd have announced on 20 Dec 2018 the finalisation of an equity transaction whereby Biobest Group NV acquires a stake in Bugs For Bugs Pty Ltd. Bugs for Bugs is a leading player in the Australian market for beneficial insects and other biocontrol products.

Nuts

Pecan nut industry expects phenomenal growth in years ahead

Consumer demand for all nuts continues to grow, in part due to Asia's appetite for them, but the pecan variety in particular is set to experience strong growth in coming years. The pecan industry's peak body, the Australian Pecan Growers' Association (APGA), estimates the number of trees in the ground to increase by 500 per cent over the next five years.

Macadamias

Why is Mistletoe killing our Macadamia trees?

Mistletoe, has become famous in the Australian macadamia industry but for all the wrong reasons.

Citrus

Fees to be waived for citrus fruit inspections

Quarantine inspection fees will be waived for the Northern Territory’s commercial citrus fruit growers sending their fruit to interstate markets, ensuring their fruit remains competitively-priced and available interstate.

Olives

High density – lower costs

Super high-density orchards could be the solution to rising labour and water costs making life tough for Australian growers working the land. Difficulties in finding suitable labour and budgeting for those labour costs are major problems in all rural areas.

Fruit Fly

States and territories in deadlock over fruit fly management agreement

Despite several states experiencing millions of dollars in expenses as a result of fruit fly this year, state and territory governments are yet commit to a federal management strategy for the pest.

Fruit Fly

Fruit fly detected on Flinders Island off north-east Tasmanian coast

Biosecurity authorities in Tasmania are ramping up fruit fly control measures after the discovery of another adult fly on Flinders Island.

Almonds - Disease & weed control

Almond yields hitting new highs with careful disease management

Careful management of its biggest cropping issues is helping Century Orchards achieve some of the highest yields in the industry at its high input almond enterprise near Loxton in South Australia.

Macadamias - Disease & weed control

Fontelis registered for husk spot in macadamia

Husk spot is a devastating fungal disease. Estimated to cost the macadamia industry up to $10 million per season, it causes the crop to prematurely drop to the ground. For many decades, the only option growers had to fend off the disease was to use broad-spectrum benzimidazole fungicides, such as carbendazim.

Citrus - Insect & mite control

Varieties, new methods drive citrus revival

When their citrus returns only covered the cost of production in 2011-12, the Arnold family let fruit fall from the trees at their Riverland orchard in South Australia. However, the adoption of a range of citrus crops and new management methods has since led a business revival.

Fruit Fly

The east and west working together to eradicate fruit fly pests

COLLABORATION between the east and west has strengthened the capabilities of the Goulburn Murray Valley (GMV) to rid the region of the Queensland Fruit Fly (QFF).