Tree Crop News

Business solutions & labour

Indians, Mexicans set for Aussie work under backpacker visa expansion backed by farm lobby

Backpackers from 13 countries are being targeted by Immigration Minister David Coleman as he seeks to find workers wanted by regional businesses.

Specialty tree crops - Tropical trees

Quest for custard apple new varieties a long and difficult road, paved with misfires and mutants

A 25-year quest to produce delicious, commercially successful, new varieties of custard apples is inching closer to completion. But the road has been long and paved with mutants.

Packaging & labelling

Australian start-up creates alternative to plastics

An Australian start-up has developed a biodegradable alternative to plastic food packaging produced from the chitin and cellulose contained in crustacean skeletons.

Avocado - Citrus - Macadamias - Mangoes - Olives

Accurate yield forecasting and better tree crop managment focus of $5M project

A grant worth more than $5 million dollars has been awarded to Hort Innovation to continue work in optimising the management of Australian tree crop industries through innovative mapping and monitoring tools.

Avocado

Could Tissue Culture Meet Avocado Plant Demand?

Plant tissue-culture is a cost-effective means of plant propagation that has been widely applied in the horticulture and forestry industries.

Pome fruit

An apple carries about 100 million bacteria

A new study shows that organic apples harbor a more diverse and balanced bacterial community - which could make them healthier and tastier than conventional apples, as well as better for the environment.

General - Marketing & export - Technology in agriculture

Tying up the digital space

Tie Up Farming delivers technological and managerial solutions to farmers

Mangoes

No longer just a summer fruit, NT mangoes hit Sydney and Melbourne markets in July

It might be the middle of winter for some, but in the Northern Territory things are starting to heat up with the first trays of mangoes for the 2019/20 season getting picked and sent to the major markets of Sydney and Melbourne.

Avocado - Packaging & labelling

Simpson Farms introduce biodegradable avocado trays

Simpson Farms is the first avocado producer in Australia to implement a new fully biodegradable tray liner for packing fruit to help the environment and reduce waste.

Marketing & export

Gayndah based citrus producer receives grant

A North Burnett horticulture producer is set to build a new pre-packaging and quick chill facility with funding from the Queensland Government.

Pome fruit - Flowering, thinning & PGRs

New thinning agent shines in first season

A new fruit thinning agent - Brevis - has passed its first season with flying colours offering a more flexible application window than currently available options.

General - Water supply & irrigation

South Australian irrigators likely to gain 100% allocations

South Australian River Murray minimum water allocations for irrigators have risen to 38 per cent in the latest Water Allocation Statement issued Department for Environment and Water (DEW).

Fruit Fly

$10M funding injection to support the eradication of Qfly

Australian research into sterile insect technology has been strengthened through a $10 million collaborative project managed by Hort Innovation, with significant cash contributions by Western Sydney University and the Government of South Australia.

Fruit Fly

New funding to keep exotic fruit fly at bay in FNQ

The Queensland Government has moved to protect jobs in Far North Queensland’s agricultural sector by boosting funding to efforts to eradicate exotic fruit fly in the region.

Citrus

New partnership between Nutrano and Keenan Produce

Nutrano has taken an equity stake in Keenan Produce Pty Ltd, a citrus packing shed operation in Griffith NSW.