The Citrus Segment

Sterile Queenland Fruit Fly are being grown out at the McCormick Centre in Renmark, ready for release across the Riverland, to help in the fight against the pest.

Fruit Fly coordinator Brett Kennedy took us on a tour of the facility recently and I asked Brett to explain the process.

Don Thorp has spent decades working in the horticultural spray application sector and is the owner and director of Horticultural Spraying Specialists.

Citrus SA brought Don to Waikerie, through EE Muir and Sons, to conduct a spray technology workshop for growers.

Ben Haslett runs his family owned orchard business, Woolenook Fruits, near Paringa in South Australia.

He grows citrus, wine grapes, sugar plums and almonds. He is also a Nuffield Scholar, and has an honours degree in science from the University of Adelaide and the University of California, Davis.

Earlier this year he was asked to speak at the ABARES National Outlook Conference to provide his experience and knowledge as a southern basin irrigator.

In this episode we discuss the importance of workplace hygiene – in the orchard and the packing shed in the face of the Covid 19 pandemic.

Our guest is Steve Burdette, technical manager for Nutrano at Abbotsleigh in Queensland, member of the Approved Employers Association and former chair of Citrus SA.

You can find more information about the fact sheet discussed by emailing [email protected] or visiting http://approvedemployers.com.au/

In this episode of The Citrus Segment we talk to Steven Falivene from the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries about frost mitigation strategies and weather forecasting services. Is it worth paying extra? 

Knowing what is the next up and coming citrus variety which tastes good, looks great and most importantly will be well received by markets is always difficult to gauge.

The New South Wales Department of Primary Industries at Dareton has a range of citrus trials underway to demonstrate new varieties to growers so they can make educated decisions.

Each June, Citrus SA hosts a trip across the border to take a look at the varieties being investigated. In 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic put a stop to growers physically visiting the orchard, but research horticulturalist Dave Monks was able to provide a ‘virtual tour’ for South Australian growers.

Citrus SA has provided the audio from this presentation for your consideration.

You can find fact sheets at https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/agriculture/horticulture/citrus

The United States still doesn’t have the full picture of the effect Huánglóngbìng or Citrus Greening Disease is having on production. That’s according to Nate Jameson who owns Brite Leaf Citrus Nursery in Florida. Nate said once HLB enters a country, there’s little hope of eradication due to the long lead time between infection and detection.  HLB has had a massive impact on Florida’s economy. In 2003-2004, the citrus industry contributed US$9.3 billion into the economy, produced 292 million boxes of fruit from the 748,000 acres of citrus production and sustained 76,300 jobs. By 2016-2017 that had dropped to $7.2bn, 78 million boxes of fruit, 447,000 productive acres and 51,000 jobs.

Take home messages: Early detection of the disease is critical to have any chance of eradication. It is also important for growers to have a good Biosecurity Plan in the event an incursion occurs. Growers and retailers need to use plant material from a reputable nursery that uses high health propagation material that has been tested for viruses and pathogens. Equally important is for the citrus industry to have a nursery system that is traceable.

This interview was recorded at a fruit fly forum held in the Riverland in 2018.

Andrew Finlay is a stone fruit grower from Stanthorpe in Southern Queensland – the native state of the dreaded fruit fly. They've always had to deal with the pest but in 2014, the game changed and it became even tougher. 

This interview was recorded at a fruit fly forum held in the Riverland in 2018.

Joelene Williams is from the Greater Sunraysia Pest-Free Area development committee and is a stone fruit grower and packer.

Joelene talks about how Queensland Fruit Fly became established in the Sunraysia and what South Australia can do to avoid a similar situation.