Tree Crop News

Citrus

Citrus canker identified in Darwin

Another citrus plant infected with citrus canker disease has been detected in Darwin.

Mangoes

Pinata Farms research project combats under skin browning

What started as a small project to grow better-looking fruit has ended in a fundamental shake-up of Pinata Farms' mango business.

Business solutions & labour

PM's new backpacker changes an immediate relief 'but not a long-term solution'

Changes to Australia's seasonal worker program and backpacker visas have been welcomed by Australia's agricultural industry as something that will provide immediate relief, but the industry will not give up the fight for a dedicated agriculture visa.

Pome fruit - Marketing & export

Montague export facility plans

Fruit company, Montague, is to build a new $26 million packing and export distribution centre in Melbourne’s Narre Warren North, creating 25 jobs.

Cherries

Tariff elimination to boost Australian cherries in China, says importer

Australian cherries are set to benefit from the elimination of tariffs in the Chinese market from the start of next year, according to one importer.

Cherries

Growers upbeat on cherry season

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

Mangoes - Pome fruit - Stone Fruit - Disease & weed control

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.

Mangoes

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.

Almonds

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.

Stone Fruit

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.

Fruit Fly

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.

Mangoes

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

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.

Fruit Fly

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.

Citrus

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.