In November Brad Rodgers was elected as the new Chair of Avocados Australia (pictured above). Brad has been an avocado grower for 5 years and has served as a Director representing Western Australia for 3 years. To read more about his background read the “Chair’s Perspective” article at the front of this magazine. Brad expressed his sincere thanks to Jim Kochi, the former Chair, for his years of service.
“We have been very fortunate to have Jim in this role for the last decade. His commitment, passion, experience, knowledge, quick witted humour and empathy have been a great mix and all stakeholders owe him a huge thank you and congratulations,” said the new Chair of Avocados Australia, Brad Rodgers.
Jim Kochi steps down as Chair of Avocados Australia after 12 years of service. Jim will stay on the Board as the Director for North Queensland. Jim said that it has been a pleasure serving as Chair and he has enjoyed dealing with all the people concerned with that role.
“I have enjoyed working with all the people within the industry and having a role to play in allowing positive things to happen to make the Australian avocado industry the success that it now is,” he said.
Brad believes that the most challenging issue facing Australian avocado growers in the next five years has to do with quality.
“Our main focus is on increasing the quality of our output so the consumer experience is always a good one,” he said.
There are a number of present and emerging opportunities that can benefit the Australian avocado industry according to Brad.
“There are three important opportunities we need to focus on, continued marketing to consumers about year round supply of avocados, transitioning consumers’ view of avocados to a daily/weekly affordable shopping staple, and the development of export markets on the ground in targeted countries like Japan and India.”
These are difficult times for growers not only due to the current over supply but in terms of other issues as well. The Board recently set their priorities for 2022. Members should look out for the next issue of Avo Insider for the details.
New director joins the Board and one vacancy open
Two director roles recently became open with the departure of John Walsh from the position of Director representing the Central Queensland Growing Area, and the departure of Rob Wheatley as Director for the Western Australia Growing Area. Both of these regions have two director positions on the Board. Jim Randell, an avocado grower based in Childers, has been appointed by the Board to fill the casual vacancy in Central Queensland as the second CQ Regional Director (pictured below). The second position of WA Regional Director is still vacant.
Our thanks go to John Walsh
John Walsh served on the Board as a director for 15 years and made a significant contribution to Board initiatives. John’s contribution to the Board will be missed and we look forward to working with him in other ways as a valued member. We would like to sincerely thank John Walsh for his dedication and service.
One Director role is vacant
We thank Rob Wheatley for his contribution on the Board in 2021. The second WA Regional Director role remains vacant at the present time. The position is open as a “casual vacancy” and Avocados Australia is calling for expressions of interest. If you are a grower based in Western Australia and you are interested in representing your region at a national level, we encourage you to make contact with John Tyas either by email j.tyas@avocado.org.au or phone 07 3846 6566.
Once a casual vacancy is filled the person in the role would serve until the next Annual General Meeting whereby a formal election process takes place.
The role of a director includes representing members in their growing region and bringing forward issues and opportunities for discussion with the Board. It is also important that directors help communicate the work that Avocados Australia does out to our members. To read a copy of Avocados Australia’s Constitution visit the Avocados Australia website and check the documents section in the Members area.
This is the latest marketing activity that’s helping Aussie consumers connect with (and eat!) Australian avocados. The industry’s marketing is managed by Hort Innovation and funded by the avocado marketing levy. Hort Innovation develops consumer-focused promotions using a variety of mediums including social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, as well as targeted partnerships with consumer-related publications and platforms.
Keep scrolling to see more great marketing activity in 2022. And, if you are chasing some delicious avocado recipes, check out Australian Avocados.
The Healthy Food Guide – double-page spread – 27 Oct 2022
In the November 2022 issue of the healthy Food Guide there is a double-page spread dedicated to some great avocado dip recipes. You’ll find the delicious recipes on page 46 and 47. This is further proof that avocado makes meals better! Recipes featured include: Japanese guacamole, Avocado tzatziki and Avocado with peas, watermelon and chilli. The Healthy Food Guide has a readership of around 352,000 and their website attracts 149,349 unique web visits per month.
Coles Magazine highlights AVOccasions – 27 Sept 2022
This month Coles’ Magazine includes a full page advertisement outlining how to “Make every meal an AVOccasion”. Featuring great images of meal ideas the advertisement shows how consumers can add an avo to make everyday meals better. They even include a QR code to direct interested consumers to great recipes online at the Australian Avocados website. You can access the magazine online here.
Hass avocados feature in ALDI Catalogue – 1 Sept 2022
ALDI’s catalogue, promoting what’s on sale 24-30 August, included a “Fresh for Brekky” double-page spread. Hass avocados were featured along with some great breakfast recipe ideas.
July-August Marketing reaches out to grocery buyers! – 31 August 2022
The avocado levy funded marketing activity that took place through July-August included television, Out Of Home advertising, social marketing and video. Television advertising reached 2,384,000 of the total grocery buyers audience in the 5 capital cities. OOH delivered campaign messages on 1,122 panels including 242 bonus panels. Top performing social content attracted 21,770 engagements and a reach of 568,575. Video achieved 1,016,170 impressions targeting grocery buyers aged 25-54. Phase one PR coverage generated 70 pieces of coverage and reached approximately 42 million. Marketing activity continues in September.
To view an overview of the PR and social activity that happened during July click here.
Social Competition in July achieves 811K impressions! – 8 August 2022
The results are now in from a Social Competition that ran during July. The competition aimed to encourage Aussies to get behind avocados whereby avocado fans had a chance to win $1,000 cash. Fans were encouraged to show how they use and enjoy avocados. There were 10 chances for people to win, helping to further encourage participation in the competition. The competition ran between 19 July – 31 July. The competition announcement posted to the Australian Avocados feed kicked off the competition and then this was boosted throughout the duration of the competition period. This achieved 811K impressions and an engagement rate of 4.95%. There featured some supportive content from the “Our Green Gold” ambassador Nazeem as well as influencers to help inspire and encourage Aussies to enter. This content drove an additional 500K+ impressions for the competition.
For more information about the competition click here.
Woolworths, IGA and ALDI plug National Avocado Day! – 3 August 2022
In July Woolworths, IGA and ALDI got into the spirit of National Avocado Day (held on 31 July) and promoted it in their various channels. Woolworths featured the day on their website and catalogue, IGA their catalogue and ALDI used their catalogue. Click here to see more.
Australian Avocados leverages the Commonwealth Games! – 2 August 2022
Following on from the success of the Olympics in 2021, Australian Avocados are leveraging the popularity of the Commonwealth Games to extend the Green Gold message association. Advertising scheduled during the games includes 64 Metro national TV Spots that will capitalise on the 2.4m audience eyeballs on free to air television. There will be 1 million impressions across 7 Plus on catch up TV (BVOD). The Tokyo Olympics delivered an audience of +61% of our booked audience and the Australian Avocados creative performed strongly and resonated with audiences winning the best ad of the Olympics. The Commonwealth Games advertising promises to be as successful and will run until Monday 8 August.
Avocados July tactical campaign and activity – Great results to date! – 31 July 2022
To date the July Tactical campaign has received amazing coverage and achieved a total reach of 56.5M+. The media have been talking to the key messages of abundance of Australian avocados, the great value right now and different usage occasions and recipes.
For more details about the July tactical campaign click here.
National Avocado Day marked in the latest ALDI Catalogue – 31 July 2022
The latest ALDI Catalogue celebrates National Avocado Day on the front cover and with Hass avocados featuring on page 4 and 5. The Australian Avocados’ National Avocado Day badge appears on the front cover along with the “‘ave an Aussie Avo” message. The cover features an Aussie farmer, Brendon from Costa, holding some Hass avocados.
MasterChef Australia judge features on Australian Avocados’ Instagram feed – 16 July 2022
Jock Zonfrillo, the Scottish MasterChef Australia judge, featured on Australian Avocados Instagram feed recently to celebrate National Corn Fritter Day. Jock made fritters with avocado. Jock whipped up a quick fritter recipe and then diced some fresh avocado to accompany the dish. Jock and his easy cooking style made for an entertaining Instagram video. This social media content is happening as part of the marketing activity targeted for the month of July. This marketing activity is aimed at driving consideration to buy more Australian Avocados through all meal occasions and versatility of usage – they make every meal better! Jock’s video certainly demonstrated this point perfectly.
Australian Avocados Radio ads for July! – 8 July 2022
The spots sound great and are a lot of fun – they deliver the key messages of great quality and abundance as well as highlight versality across different occasions. Activity will kick off with the 30” spot, to help launch officially unofficially sponsoring every day across July, followed by an even rotation of the 15” spots where we focus in on meal occasions and recipe inspiration. The anthemic soundtrack is a really nice tie to Our Green Gold and the TVC currently on air.
Radio commercials:
15 second Breakfast commercial
15 second Lunch commercial
15 second Dinner commercial
Australian Avocados marketing pivots plans to take advantage of current market conditions – 6 July 2022
After receiving feedback from a number of growers, The Hort Innovation marketing team working together with AAL has responded by rapidly putting together an incremental marketing campaign for Australian Avocados to coincide with the current challenges in the market. The Strategic Investment Advisory Panel for avocados has now endorsed this incremental activity to support current market conditions and this article outlines the action that is going to be taken.
The new incremental tactical marketing initiative will help drive immediate awareness of the great value of Australian avocados available in abundance in the market right now, amidst the rising cost of living and fresh food prices. The incremental activity will also help drive consideration to buy more Australian avocados across all meal occasions by highlighting the versatility of usage that avocados make every meal better.
HIA looked for an incremental opportunity versus doing more of the same to ensure earned media can be achieved and a new thread of narratives can be picked up to generate media coverage. Hort Innovation worked with the CEO’s of our media and creative agency partners to identify a new opportunity for Australian Avocados.
The result was an opportunity to re-purpose the National Avocado Day campaign with an “abundance/value” narrative and build up coverage over the month of July through both paid and earned media. The campaign will use the “Green Gold spokesperson” Nazeem Hussain to draw high profile attention and to get Aussies involved in supporting Australian Avocados
The incremental campaign utilises radio, PR and social platforms and was launched on Monday 4 July to kick off the “Green Gold Month” of activities. That’s right, Australian Avocados is officially unofficially sponsoring July and hi-jacking “Green & Gold” opportunities and moments over the course of the month. The activity will convert every opportunity into a purchase driver to buy more avocados and take advantage of avocados’ current great value. The campaign launched with a radio national announcement via Australian Traffic Network nationally and earned media through press release featuring grower interviews and recipes. Media personality Nazeem will then take part in sustained activity for the rest of July featuring across social media and PR. He will strive to get all Aussies onboard with using avocados across all meal occasions and encourage them to enter a competition by sharing how they enjoy their Avocados to win a prize on National Avocado Day (31st July). Pivoted activities will also involve retail outlets across digital and catalogues. With the incremental activity and existing activities across TV, OOH and digital, the Avocado industry can expect to benefit from dedicated avocado marketing activity for this Hass season.
To access more information about this incremental marketing activityclick here.
Below are a number of Radio sound bites featuring Tamborine/Northern Rivers avocado grower, Tom Silver, talking about the current market conditions, what consumers should do to support Aussie growers, and his favourite avocado recipes:
RADIO BITES:
Tom Silver – Talks about the current oversupply of avocados:
Tom Silver – Talks about the importance of buying local produce and supporting Aussie growers:
Tom Silver – Talks about how Aussies can join in on celebrations and find out more:
Tom Silver – Talks about his favourite avocado recipes:
Woolworths “Fresh Ideas Magazine” (July issue) features avocado in time for National Avocado Day (31 July)
Try avocado three ways. That’s the message readers will receive from the full page feature that appears in Fresh Ideas magazine for July 2022.
Hass are Back – Marketing for May through to July (May 2022)
Hass takes centre seat in the marketing campaign planned for May to July. The campaign will celebrate Hass being back on shelves with an awareness burst reminding Australians about Our Green Gold. The campaign will use television – Broadcaster video on demand and Linear TV – from 15 May and reach the full spectrum of Grocery Buyers. The role of this channel is to create awareness and increase consideration of Avocados. PR and media activity is being stepped up and social media content is highlighting quality Hass avocados. Outdoor signage will use both large format outdoor and retail outdoor. Retail outdoor formats will aim to drive consideration when the audience is at the point of purchase. The aim of the campaign is to utilise multiple campaign objectives with high impact creative in order to strengthen the Australian Avocado’s brand, promote the Hass variety and encourage frequency of consumption amongst our target audience. The campaign objectives are to 1) Generate awareness, 2) Target engagement: Encourage social conversation & engagement, and 3) Traffic: Drive people to site to consume recipe content.
Australian Avos partners with iconic Sydney café, Cuckoo Callay (March 2022)
Australian Avocados partners with iconic Sydney café, Cuckoo Callay, creating a limited-edition menu to celebrate the start of Shepard avocado season, with a festival named For the love of Shepard Avocado. Read more online at newsforthefoodlover.com
Click the image below to view a video about Cuckoo Callay’s Chef preparing three fabulous dishes inspired by Shepard avocados:
Out-of-home advertising provides reminders to buy Aussie avocados (March 2022)
Retail outdoor advertising plays an important part in the Australian Avocados media strategy as it helps drive sales/purchase intent. It works with social media content to remind consumers to purchase Aussie avocados before they enter a store. The out-of-home marketing aims to reach 81% of Grocery Buyers aged 25-54. It will run in metro areas across 5 capital cities. The out-of-home advertising is located in close proximity to Woolworths, Coles, Aldi and Independent Grocers.
Shepard Campaign hits social platforms & more (March 2022)
During March and early April there will be media support for Shepard avocados involving social media marketing, retail and digital out-of-home marketing and radio advertising. The radio advertising will leverage Australian Avocados’ previous partnership with Nova to extend the Brand Affinity of the listeners for Shepard avocados with Live Reads as well as 30 second Brand Ads. The ads will run nationally (in metro areas) across the Nova Network and will reach 1.3 million Grocery Buyers aged 25-54.
PR – Place an avo on the Barbie (January 2022)
Hayden Quinn, an Australian chef best known for appearing on Series 3 of MasterChef Australia and as a judge on Nine Network cooking program Family Food Fight, has been appearing in print and online talking about placing an avocado on the barbecue. Australian Avocados’ PR agency has been busy reaching out to targets across lifestyle, radio and food verticals with more coverage expected.
Nova to take part in promoting the Shepard season (January 2022)
Off the back of a successful Q4 campaign, Australian Avocados will partner with Nova Entertainment Network again for the upcoming Shepard season to create mass awareness of Australian Avocados through the heart-felt ‘Our Green Gold’. Nova is a national metropolitan network with talent leading the way in connecting listeners when it comes to changing product perception. There will be a competition component, where listeners will be invited to identify ‘Green Gold’ anthems and go into the draw to win a major prize, as well as supporting brand radio activity. In addition, there will be amplification through retail out of home advertising to keep avocados top of mind on the final path to purchase and always-on social to increase awareness of the Shepard variety during key season.
This activity is funded by Hort Innovation through the marketing levy and co-ordinated in partnership with Avocados Australia.
Avocado grower and marketer Costa Group have teamed up with trace technology leaders iTrazo TraceTech to develop a Digital Traceability platform for their Lovacado avocados.
Launched across major and independent retailers nationally earlier this year, Costa’s Lovacado Shepard avocados, grown in Central Queensland, had a QR code integrated into the fruit stickers to enhance business supply chain traceability and increase consumer engagement.
Costa Avocado’s Marketing Manager Kylie McKnight said the business was excited to partner with iTrazo to integrate this technology into Costa’s Lovacado fruit.
“This technology will allow us to better understand our farm to plate journey and engage with our consumers in a different way. Once the QR code is scanned by consumers the platform provides us with real-time geolocation data so we can see where the avocado has been purchased or consumed, and how far it has travelled from farm,” Ms McKnight said.
In addition to its traceability capabilities, the iTrazo technology provides a platform for Lovacado consumers to rate their avocado, providing Costa with instant feedback on quality, ripeness, appearance and brand awareness.
The platform also provides consumers with information on the avocado’s provenance, as well as recipe inspiration, avocado health benefits and all-important selecting and storage tips and tricks.
iTrazo’s COO Paul Whybird said his company was committed to building trust and accountability for Costa’s avocado consumers.
“The direct consumer communication will enable both the consumer and Costa to exchange information openly. Trace technologies increase consumer confidence and gives brands the peace of mind that comes from knowing their products arrived at their destination safely, on time, and without interference.
“Costa will further tap into existing farm and process data to provide ‘Farm to Fork’ transparency while linking marketing and distribution data to enhance and innovate its operations,” Mr Whybird said.
Costa has also rolled out the iTrazo ADI platform across its FNQ grown Lovacado Hass avocados.
Source: costagroup.com.au
This article was produced for the Spring 2021 edition of Talking Avocados.
The Avocado industry development and extension (AV17005) team have been able to continue the schedule of 2021 regional forums this year with Atherton hosting over 100 attendees from North Queensland on 25 August.
Avocados Australia Chair Jim Kochi and CEO John Tyas welcomed everyone to a day full of the latest industry updates and insights. John provided an update on how rapidly avocado production is increasing – with a total supply (Australia and New Zealand) of about 130,000t projected this year.
To relieve downward pressure on the Australian market John spoke about the critical steps everyone needed to take to improve demand from consumers and therefore market performance.
“Fruit quality is paramount to driving demand. A well-informed market is what we need, so that anticipated volumes and quality can be marketed efficiently,” he said.
“Communication is more important than ever. Growers need to communicate up and down the supply chain, make accurate forecasts, and update these regularly.”
“If you are not on Infocado, get involved now.”
John also introduced Hayleigh Dawson (Market Development Manager) and Flora Zhang (Export Development Manager), outlining their roles in driving domestic and export market development, and provided an update some of the latest Australian avocado marketing activities launching during the Olympics.
The latest advice in pest management
Ian Newton from the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (DAF) in Mareeba presented some important advice for pest management in avocados on the Tablelands. A key takeaway was his recommendation to use ‘soft’ option insecticides at the start of the season. Insecticides such as Transform® and Trivor® can extend the benefit from beneficial insects.
Another new insecticide Sivanto® will be registered soon. Ian explained how these chemicals also reduce the chances of resistance developing in key pests and ensured MRLs were not exceeded.
A new crop calendar for Maluma
Ebony Faichney, also from DAF in Mareeba, reminded growers that timing was everything in her presentation on the phenological cycle she has developed for Maluma in North Queensland. Her studies show that the variety behaves quite differently to other varieties – with feeder root growth over an extended period, and a very long flowering period which can cause difficulties for harvesting fruit of consistent quality. Ebony reported that whilst growers had experienced varied success in growing the new variety, there was evidence that when managed well the variety could outperform other varieties.
Increasing flower longevity for better fruit set
CSIRO’s Dr Harley Smith travelled from Adelaide to present his advice on how shifting the flowering season slightly later when temperatures were warmer, pollen growth would be stronger and be more conducive to fruit set.
Understanding the influences on fruit abscission
Also from Adelaide, CSIRO’s Dr Amnon Haberman spoke on the importance of “carbohydrate management” when thinking about tree management. Going beyond canopy management, Dr Amnon expressed carbohydrate management as including both the suppression of vegetative growth at flowering and fruit set, and the promotion of canopy growth at other times of the year to ensure the tree has a big enough ‘factory’ to photosynthesize and produce sufficient carbohydrates to support a large crop. His project (AV16005) is studying the physiology of fruit abscission, with research showing that limiting carbohydrate levels did stimulate fruit abscission.
Post-season quality workshops
DAF Mareeba’s Geoff Dickinson was also able to report on project AV18000 which has been identifying and promoting improvements to practices in supply chains between farms and retail distribution centres. Geoff highlighted some of the particular challenges for North Queensland from high pest and disease pressure, to a hot and wet harvest period, and having such a long distance to market. Some of the key management considerations determined by the project include the control of fruit spotting bug and anthracnose, making sure your nitrogen to calcium ratio is not too high, ensuring the fruit is at a low enough temperature when leaving the packing shed, keeping transit temperatures consistent, and storage times minimised.
Experiences with PGRs
Growers Andrew Irving and Jim Kochi wrapped up the presentations with their personal experience using plant growth regulators (PGRs). Key tips shared included ensuring PGRs were not applied to unhealthy sections of orchards, ensuring you always leave untreated control sections, planning for the potential of less yield in the second year, using single sided spraying where rows run east-west, and cancelling planned use when poor weather arrives at the required spray time. Challenges include the effect that the shorter internodes have on canopy darkness, spray coverage and fruit windrub.
Field tour
The day ended with attendees visiting Rock Ridge Farming’s Yungaburra Orchard. Manager John Quadrio spoke broadly about his approaches in the orchard. His approach to irrigation management includes three methods of monitoring soil moisture, with managers always carrying an auger with them so that soil moisture in different parts of the orchard can be checked often.
John outlined the key aspects to nutrition in the orchard, including the use of gypsum as a calcium source because of the effects of irrigation water on the soil pH. He also provided perspectives on the use of molybdenum, and the importance of calcium and potassium on reducing fruit bruising.
Other tips shared by John included the use of an app on his phone for measuring light intensity which he uses as a guide when opening up the canopy to encourage flowering and reduce disease. When the value is 200 on the app he considers it too dark. A value of 300 is what he has found to be adequate.
He also described the approach to bee management in the orchard, where they leave an unmown ‘mohawk’ down the center of the interrow to attract and feed bees and other insect pollinators. This is then mown when avocados start flowering – the theory being that the pollinators will then switch their interest to the avocado flowers.
More information
You can find the presentations in the BPR Library under “Event Proceedings” (https://avocado.org.au/best-practice-resource/). Check the fortnightly Guacamole newsletter and the events calendar at avocado.org.au for future dates. If you would like more information on the project contact Avocados Australia Industry Development Manager Anne Larard on 0499 854 111 or email idm@avocado.org.au. At DAF contact Simon Newett at simon.newett@daf.qld.gov.au or 07 5381 1326, or Bridie Carr, bridie.carr@daf.qld.gov.au or 07 5381 1327.
Acknowledgement
The Avocado industry development and extension (AV17005) project has been funded by Hort Innovation, using the avocado research and development levy, co-investment from the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, and contributions from the Australian Government.
This article was produced for the Spring 2021 edition of Talking Avocados.
As Australian avocado volumes continue to grow over the next 5 -10 years the development of export markets will become increasingly important to maintain profitability in the industry. It is expected that production will reach about 170,000 tonnes by 2026, more than double the production from last year. Fortunately, there is a growing demand for avocados internationally. This is especially so in Asia, particularly in Japan.
Only Hass avocados from officially recognised areas free of Queensland fruit fly – Western Australia, the Riverland region in South Australia (excluding the Renmark West suspension area) and Tasmania – can be exported to Japan. And for those growers/packers who go through the process of seeking accreditation and adopting the Japan protocol the rewards can mean a foot in the door to a new market.
An ‘export to Japan workshop’ held in Manjimup, in Western Australia in June 2021, attracted a great deal of interest and a number of applications for accreditation were received from both growers and packhouses.
In 2018 Western Australia gained market access to Japan. One Western Australian avocado grower and packer that has taken the initiative and achieved accreditation to export to Japan is Bendotti Avocado. Bendotti Avocado has been accredited since 2019 and they are early adopters of the export to Japan protocol program.
Bendotti Avocado are avocado growers and packers, their packing shed is run by Joe Bendotti with help from his sons Trevor and Shane. They pack their own avocados and for local growers around the South-West region and sell to buyers all over Australia. They chose to undertake the accreditation process because they decided that they would strive to combat the forth coming increase in domestic supply by exploring export markets.
“We decided that it was better to get established as an exporter now so we can have the option to export significant amounts of fruit into the future,” said Trevor Bendotti.
“In our first real year of exporting we were sending a container every 10 days. Though it was not a huge quantity of fruit we realised if they took a liking to our fruit it will help increase future demand.”
“Initially we had no volume figure in mind, we just wanted to establish the process and procedures and we have been learning through trial and error.”
Trevor Bendotti says it has been a learning process. They are establishing a good relationship with their buyer. In turn their buyer is building confidence with their product and as confidence grows Bendotti Avocado will then begin to send more significant volumes of fruit.
“This is our third year of being accredited to export to Japan.”
Exporters can now utilize a new online registration tool as part of the certification process.
“In adopting the protocol, the most important thing is attention to detail, labelling has to be perfect in order to avoid rejection.”
“We wanted to get into the position of being confident with the process, and we are slowly achieving this through some hard lessons, but it has all been worth it.”
Bendotti Avocado’s first shipment left in August 2021.
“We have sent half a dozen consignments now and we use our own custom pallets.”
“Our planning started back in February and was in great detail however one thing we didn’t plan for was the Corona virus still to be having such a significant effect on the world’s transportation availability.”
Trevor Bendotti said they had all the sizes and prices sorted before they sent a piece of fruit. As any corrective actions popped-up they dealt with it and learned valuable lessons in the process.
The process for adopting the protocol for a grower is straight forward according to Trevor. Importance is placed on record keeping, traceability and orchard hygiene. The fruit must be in a hard green condition.
“The fruit going to Japan needs to have lower than normal dry matter so therefore is harvested before the domestic supply is harvested.”
For the packer the emphasis is on keeping the fruit (destined for Japan) separate from all other fruit.
“We are fortunate to have additional storage onsite, so we have enough storage to cater for this.”
The controlled atmosphere containers are monitored throughout the export process. Care is taken to ensure that the netting stays in gaps, that the correct seals are used and the correct labelling.
“Our controlled atmosphere containers get tested every time they are used.”
At the time of writing this article Bendotti Avocados was waiting for their consignments to arrive. They currently have three controlled atmosphere containers “on the water” the second container is to arrive by the end of October.
So what does Trevor think of the overall process so far?
“We are feeling positive.”
“We are fortunate to have negotiated a good price for the fruit, a price that is currently better than the domestic price,” adds Trevor Bendotti.
Avocado growers and packers interested in exporting fruit to Japan for 2022 are welcome to get in touch with Avocados Australia’s Export Development Manager, Flora Zhang, email export@avocado.org.au or call 07 3846 6566.
Acknowledgement
The Avocado market access and trade development project (AV20004) has been funded by Hort Innovation, using the avocado research and development levy, and contributions from the Australian Government.
This article was produced for the Spring 2021 edition of Talking Avocados.
By Massimo Nettis and Terry Rudge, Rudge Produce Systems
NIR (near infrared) technology is very useful for measuring dry matter in Shepard avocados and you do not need to be a scientist to build a model.
According to Massimo Nettis of Rudge Produce Systems, you just need to read the instructions and be very careful about how you take measurements.
“A device such as a Felix F750 can take hundreds of non-destructive readings in the field in the time it takes to do one or two oven dry matter readings,” Massimo said.
“This makes NIR a great tool for growers to predict harvest maturity and to understand the variability of fruit dry matter. It also allows growers to understand how weather conditions and growing practices affect fruit maturity.”
There is widespread use of NIR to measure dry matter of mangoes, but the place for this technology in the avocado industry has been less obvious. This year, Rudge Produce Systems needed to take multiple dry matter measurements of avocados without destroying fruit. This was required as part of Hort Innovation project Implementing best practice of avocado fruit management and handling practices from farm to ripening (AV18000). This project is managed by the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries.
“We found the Felix F750 to be an ideal tool for this task but needed to develop a ‘model’ so the F750 had the smarts to estimate dry matter of avocados,” Massimo said.
“A model is like a language and our devices were fluent only in mango. They could understand ‘Hass speak’ because our Sydney representative Nasser Abdi had already built a model, with help from Kerry Walsh’s team at Central Queensland University.
“We needed to build a new model for Shepard, and we needed it urgently. I was given the task even though I had never heard of an F750,” he said. Massimo’s experience has useful lessons.
Lesson 1 – read the manual
On the Felix website there is a link to a YouTube about Felix’s Modelbuilder software.
“The video was useful, but I did not understand the jargon. I had no idea what terms like ‘training sets’ and ‘reference data’ meant,” Massimo said.
“I did not really understand the process until I read the ‘Data Viewer & Model Builder User Manual’. I read the step by step the instructions in the User manual at least three times.”
Lesson 2 – collect reference data
“I must have checked at least 50 trays of Shepard to collect fruit with a wide enough range of maturity,” Massimo said.
“I finished with a sample of 40 fruit ranging from 20-26% dry matter. I would have liked to include fruit with readings down to 18 and 19%.
“Next time I will start earlier and try to include some less-mature fruit.”
Lesson 3 – Be precise
Massimo said he did this part “pretty well”, marking the skin to ensure Felix readings were taken from exactly the same place as flesh plugs were to be taken.
“We used scales with readings to 0.001 grams and a very good dehydrator,” he said.
Lesson 4 – use firm fruit for model building
Massimo said the fruit he used to build the model was at hard green stage.
“This was because I wanted to build the model as early as possible in the Shepard season,” he said.
“It was easy to draw plugs of flesh for drying and I did not have the problem of flesh sticking to the side of the corer and knife.
“I plan to add data from ripe fruit to my model so I can be sure it works on eating ripe fruit. This will be a much dirtier process and I will need to be very careful in handling flesh samples.”
Lesson 5 – Using the Modelbuilder tools to optimise the data
Massimo said he entered scan readings from the F750 and matched them up to the destructive Dry Matter readings.
“I pressed ‘build’ and it took only minutes to come up with a model. I then used the in-built tools to see how good it was,” he said.
“To start with, my scan data did not correlate strongly with dry matter, but it improved considerably after I took out one or two outlying data points.
“The biggest weakness of my model was that it was based on only 40 fruit (80 readings). Next time I will take more readings and add them to the 80 that I already have.”
Lesson 6 – Contact Felix support for any problem
“I copied the new model on to an SD card and inserted it into the F750, but our device could not detect the new file,” Massimo said.
“I wasted a lot of time reviewing what I had done. Eventually I swallowed my pride and contacted Felix support, and it turned out that the SD card was corrupted.
“I followed the few easy steps that Felix suggested, and the model worked perfectly.”
Lesson 7 – Test it in real life
Massimo said his Shepard avocado model worked.
“The Dry Matter values that it estimates are close to the actuals. I will continue to add additional data to the model to make it more reliable.”
Massimo’s recommendations
The F750 can be used to take non-destructive measurements of dry matter in Shepard, and you do not need to be a scientist to build a model. You do need to read the instructions and be particularly careful about how you take measurements during the model building process.
The F750 has a real place in helping avocado growers predict harvest maturity and understand the variability of fruit dry matter.
A grower can take hundreds of NIR readings in the time it takes to do one or two oven dry matter readings. It is easy to see how it can be used to investigate how cultural practices influence fruit maturity.
More information
For further information contact Massimo Nettis on 0432 765 459 or mnettis@rudge.com.au.
Acknowledgement
The Implementing best practice of avocado fruit management and handling practices from farm to ripening (AV18000) project has been funded by Hort Innovation, using the avocado research and development levy, co-investment from Department of Agriculture and Fisheries and contributions from the Australian Government.
This article was produced for the Winter 2021 edition of Talking Avocados.
Avocados Australia’s special side event to Hort Connections drew a full house of industry members on 7 June, 2021.
Avocados Australia CEO John Tyas said it was the first time the organisation, a Hort Connections industry partner, had held a side event at the major national conference.
“We were over-subscribed with interested attendees, keen to know more about the latest in industry marketing, retail, supply chain quality and export,” Mr Tyas said.
“The event provided a great opportunity for people to join key industry stakeholders from across the supply chain and hear the latest in industry, marketing, retail and supply chain R&D developments and improvements, including our export markets and the extensive update of our Infocado system.”
Hort Innovation Marketing Manager Adele Nowakowska provided an update on the new Australian Avocados campaign, Our Green Gold.
The new campaign, featuring well-known comedian Nazeem Hussain, aims to connect emotionally with Australian avocado consumers, and ultimately to increase the frequency of purchase.
“In a year when supply is forecast to increase by 65% (compared to the previous 12 months), the timing and goal of this campaign could not be more important,” Mr Tyas said.
“This year’s Hass crop is of excellent quality, and we’ve had good growing conditions across most of our production regions, so it’s definitely the time to celebrate Our Green Gold.”
Other speakers at the event included Woolworths’s Jessica Loader, who provided an update on retail activities and avocados.
The Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries’ Noel Ainsworth provided valuable insights into fruit quality and supply chain temperatures from grower to ripening/wholesale after sampling numerous supply chains for a two-year period.
Applied Horticultural Research’s Adam Goldwater followed with an update on the retail performance of avocados after sampling carried out in metropolitan stores during the past 12 months.
Avocados Australia Data Analyst Daniel Martins provided an update on the exciting new Infocado system, and CEO John Tyas covered the current state of play, and export potential.
“Given the response, we will definitely look at how we can be a part of the Hort Connections shoulder program in future years.”
More information
You can find recordings of some of the presentations in the BPR Library, under Event Proceedings: avocado.org.au/bpr/.
This article was produced for the Winter 2021 edition of Talking Avocados.
By Wiebke Kämper (Griffith University), Steven Ogbourne (University of the Sunshine Coast), David Hawkes (Australian Genome Research Facility), Stephen Trueman (Griffith University)
Key messages
Interplanting of Type A cultivars (eg Hass) and Type B cultivars (eg Shepard) increases the chance that avocado flowers are pollinated successfully.
We used DNA markers to determine whether Hass fruit in two orchards had been self-pollinated by Hass or cross-pollinated by another cultivar, mainly Shepard.
On average, 37% of fruit in the Hass row next to another cultivar were self-pollinated. This increased to 75% of Hass fruit being self-pollinated at 11–14 rows from another cultivar.
Fruit mass, flesh mass, and fatty acid composition did not differ significantly between the Hass fruit that were self-pollinated by Hass and the Hass fruit that were cross-pollinated by Shepard.
The flesh of cross-pollinated fruit had 10% higher calcium levels than self-pollinated fruit.
Avocado flowers are female when they first open and male when they open a second time. In theory, flowers of Type A cultivars such as Hass open as female in the morning, close in the late morning, and re-open as male on the afternoon of the next day. Flowers of Type B cultivars such as Shepard open as female in the afternoon, close in the late afternoon, and re-open as male on the following morning.
Orchards are established with a mixture of Type A and Type B cultivars to maximise the chance that pollen from male-stage flowers is available for pollination of female-stage flowers. However, the timing of the female and male stages may change depending on climatic conditions such as cool temperatures during flowering. There can often be significant overlap between female and male stages within the same cultivar.
Avocado orchards are typically established with each cultivar planted in a wide block, rather than different cultivars being interplanted within the same row or in alternating rows. Wide blocks simplify farm management and may reduce the costs of pest control, disease control and fruit harvesting.
However, planting each cultivar in a wide block might reduce the chance that female-stage flowers are pollinated successfully. Avocado fruit can be produced from self-pollination (by pollen from the same cultivar) or cross-pollination (by pollen from a different cultivar). Therefore, planting each cultivar in a wide block might also increase the chance that most fruit result from self-pollination.
In other crops, such as macadamia, self-pollinated fruit are often smaller and of lower quality than cross-pollinated fruit.
We know comparatively little about the effect of self-pollination on avocado fruit. Here, we assessed the contributions of self-pollination and cross-pollination to avocado fruit production in two Queensland orchards. We also determined whether fruit mass, flesh mass, mineral nutrient concentrations and fatty acid composition differed between self-pollinated and cross-pollinated fruit.
Methods
We harvested Hass fruit from 32 trees in two orchards near Childers, Queensland. The first orchard contained blocks of Hass and Shepard that were 26 rows wide, with row spacing of 10-11 m. The trees were 13-years-old. The second orchard contained blocks of Hass, Shepard, Lamb Hass and Wurtz that were 6-22 rows wide, with row spacing of 10m. Trees were 18-21-years-old. The 32 harvested Hass trees were located along eight transects, with each transect consisting of four individual trees at: (a) 1 row, (b) 2 rows, (c) 3 rows, and (d) 11–14 rows from another cultivar. The last sampling point represented the middle of a Hass block.
Six fruit per tree were stored at 4°C before being ripened at room temperature for 10-12 days. We measured total fruit mass and flesh mass of each fruit. We analysed mineral nutrient concentrations in the flesh using inductively coupled plasma – atomic emission spectroscopy. We analysed fatty acid composition by gas chromatography – mass spectrometry. We determined the pollen parent of each fruit by extracting DNA from the seed and performing MassARRAY genotyping using methods that we developed for avocado.
Results
A total of 52% of Hass fruit arose from self-pollination and 48% of Hass fruit arose from cross-pollination. Almost all (95%) of the cross-pollinated fruit were pollinated by Shepard. The percentage of self-pollinated fruit increased with increasing distance from another cultivar (Figure 1).
Approximately 37% of Hass fruit were self-pollinated and 63% were cross-pollinated in the row next to another cultivar. In contrast, 75% of fruit were self-pollinated and 25% were cross-pollinated in the middle of the Hass blocks, i.e. at 11–14 rows from another cultivar.
Hass fruit that were self-pollinated by Hass did not differ significantly in total fruit mass or flesh mass from Hass fruit that were pollinated by Shepard (Table 1).
The flesh of cross-pollinated fruit had 10% higher calcium and 11% lower phosphorus concentration than self-pollinated fruit (Table 2). Other mineral nutrient concentrations did not differ significantly (data not presented). Self-pollinated and cross-pollinated fruit did not differ significantly in the relative contributions of palmitic, palmitoleic, stearic, oleic, elaidic or linoleic acid to their total fatty acid composition (Table 2).
Discussion
We found almost a 50/50 mixture of self-pollinated and cross-pollinated Hass fruit in two Queensland orchards. However, the percentage of self-pollinated fruit increased from 37% to 75% as we moved from the edge to the middle of the wide Hass blocks. Bees and flies are the main pollinators in avocado orchards.
Our results indicate that pollen vectors were only partly effective in transporting Shepard pollen into the middle of Hass blocks that were 22-26 rows wide. This might affect tree yield, because we expect that pollination and fruit set would be greatest when female-stage flowers of the Type A cultivar Hass have the greatest possible access to pollen from the male-stage flowers of Type B cultivars such as Shepard. Further research is warranted to determine whether yields are lower in the middle than at the edge of wide Hass blocks.
Self-pollinated fruit are often smaller and of lower quality than cross-pollinated fruit in other crops. This is an example of xenia, which is the term used for the effect of different pollen donors on the size or quality of the fruit. However, self-pollinated and cross-pollinated Hass fruit did not differ significantly in fruit mass, flesh mass, and the concentrations of most mineral nutrients. Interestingly, though, Hass fruit that were cross-pollinated by Shepard had higher calcium concentrations than self-pollinated Hass fruit, which suggests they might be less prone to rots and other fruit disorders, and they might have longer shelf life.
Self-pollinated and cross-pollinated Hass fruit did not differ significantly in fatty acid composition. Both types of fruit had the same, distinctive fatty acid profile that makes avocado a valuable component of a healthy, nutritious diet.
Acknowledgement
The Increasing yield and quality in tropical horticulture with better pollination, fruit retention and nutrient distribution project (PH16001) is funded by the Hort Frontiers Pollination Fund, part of the Hort Frontiers strategic partnership initiative developed by Hort Innovation, with co-investment from Griffith University, University of the Sunshine Coast, Plant & Food Research Ltd and contributions from the Australian Government. This research was also funded by the Ruhr University Research School PLUS, which is funded by Germany’s Excellence Initiative [DFG GSC 98/3].
We thank Simpson Farms and Costa Avocado for assistance and access to their orchards. We thank Chris Searle, Helen Wallace, Tarran Richards, Peter Brooks and Tsvakai Gama for advice and assistance.
This article was produced for the Autumn 2021 edition of Talking Avocados.
By Noel Ainsworth, Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries
Investigating the root cause of poor fruit quality is a new component of the Avocado Supply Chain Feedback project (AV18000). During a 2020 assessment of fruit quality in a consignment, we came across the darkened flesh symptoms above and below the seed (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Symptoms were observed at medium-soft ripe.
The initial diagnosis was based on photos shown to Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (QDAF) and Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI) colleagues. It was suspected that the symptoms may be related to calcium deficiency, boron deficiency, frost damage or a combination of all three. These were compared with photos of vascular browning frost damage (p116), boron deficiency (p120) and calcium deficiency flesh discolouration (p121) images in The Avocado Problem Solver Field Guide (2013) and symptoms described by Smith (1997).
To confirm the initial diagnosis, a traceback was initiated involving discussions with the packshed manager and the grower who supplied the fruit. This included details about frost incidence and leaf damage, tree age, tree vigour and rootstocks used plus the fertiliser program and results of leaf analysis. Naturally, that information was vital to working out what might have gone wrong and where improvements could be made.
Information provided by the grower suggested that calcium nutrition may be a key factor. A sample of fruit from the source block plus a fruit sample from another block nearby (for comparison) were sent to Symbio Laboratories in Brisbane for nutrient analysis. Results are presented in Table 1, the most relevant result in these analyses is probably the N/Ca ratio. The fruit with symptoms had a ratio below the proposed threshold value of 33 whereas the symptomless fruit had a ratio above this threshold. In addition, both calcium and boron levels were lower in the affected fruit.
The advice provided to the grower was to consider making suitable changes to their nutritional program, especially shifting the N:Ca balance and boron levels. It is important to remember that too much nitrogen promotes excessive vegetative growth which diverts calcium away from developing fruit. Timing is also important when it comes to calcium application, noting that there is a limited window of opportunity to apply calcium and this needs to be within the first six (6) to eight (8) weeks after fruit set, when calcium is deposited into the fruit.
While the cause of the fruit quality symptoms is rarely definitive, this case study illustrates the value of obtaining feedback on ripe fruit quality. This, combined with a little bit of investigation, provides an early warning and likely corrective action before a little problem becomes a big one. The AV18000 project team use commercial fruit quality assessors in Sydney and Melbourne. This service, through Rudge Produce Systems, is also available to avocado growers on a fee-for-service basis.
Further reading
Further information on how to improve fertiliser / nutrition management can be found in:
Newett, S., Rigden, P., and Weinert, M. (2013) The Avocado Problem Solver Field Guide (2013) p161, State of Queensland. (Much of the content of the Problem Solver can be found in the Avocados Australia Best Practice Resource.)
Newett, S., Perkins, M., Coates, L., Irvine-Brown, S., and Joyce, D. (2021) ‘Review of pre-harvest mineral nutrition for post-harvest quality’, Talking Avocados, Summer V31#4, p54-57.
Smith, T.E., Hofman, P.J., Stephenson, R.A., Asher, C.J., and Hetherington, S.E. (1997) Improving boron nutrition improves ‘Hass’ avocado fruit size and quality. Proceedings from Conference ’97: Searching for Quality. Joint Meeting of the Australian Avocado Grower’s Federation, Inc. and NZ Avocado Growers Association, Inc., 23-26 September 1997. J. G. Cutting (Ed.). Pages 131 – 137, http://www.avocadosource.com/Journals/AUSNZ/CONF97/CONFERENCE_1997_PG_131-137.pdf
More information
Contact QDAF Principal Supply Chain Horticulturist Noel Ainsworth, on 0409 003 909 or email noel.ainsworth@daf.qld.gov.au.
Acknowledgement
The AV18000 project has been funded by Hort Innovation, using avocado research and development levy, co-investment from the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Western Australian Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, and contributions from the Australian Government. Key project delivery partners also include Avocados Australia and Rudge Produce Systems.
This article was produced for the Autumn 2021 edition of Talking Avocados.
By Elizabeth Dann, Akila Prabhakaran and Kaylene Bransgrove
This article provides an update of our current understanding and research efforts concerning panicle dieback in avocados (read the previous article here). Fruit yields in 2021 will again be significantly impacted in some orchards/blocks.
In mature, fruiting trees, dieback of the flower shoot was observed again in 2020 in Queensland’s Bundaberg/Childers growing region, where we first became aware of the severity of this issue. Rather than a death or blight of flowers themselves, which occurs less commonly, the main yield-limiting symptom was dieback, which became apparent 6-8 weeks after peak flowering. At this time, flowers had well and truly abscised or set, and fruitlets were mostly pea to olive sized, and up to golf ball sized. Dieback in these fruiting shoots caused disrupted water flow to developing fruitlets, which shrivelled and turned black eventually abscising to leave the ‘skeleton’ of the inflorescence (Figures 1, 2 and 5). Later in spring after peak flowering we frequently see epicormic shoots and subsequent leaf flush behind the panicle skeleton (Figure 3, 4). Where this has occurred for a couple of years, there is a “knuckle”-like appearance (Figure 3). During the summer, trees make a rapid recovery, with vegetative flush arising from warm weather, good irrigation and nutrition and a lack of crop to arrest vegetative growth (Figure 5).
We have received reports, photos and samples from North Queensland and south-west Western Australia, so the problem is certainly not confined to Central Queensland. Symptoms and anecdotal information seem to be consistent across all regions, ie it has been noticed in previous years, but seems to be getting more severe (or we are more aware of it now). Panicle and shoot dieback first becomes apparent during early fruit development, and is worse in Hass and Maluma, but virtually unknown in Shepard; it is associated predominantly with heavy defoliation and functionally determinate flowering. Individual trees or sections of blocks can be worse than others, and it can be surprising to see in trees which have not defoliated much at flowering and otherwise appear to be healthy.
The Avocado Pathology team at UQ have continued to process samples collected by our team or sent in by growers and agronomists from across Australia’s growing regions. The fungi most frequently and consistently isolated are Alternaria spp., Colletotrichum and several others, and less often fungi from the Botryosphaeriaceae family (commonly held responsible for dieback in avocado and other tree crops). Colletotrichum and Botryosphaeria species are well-known pathogens of avocado, causing fruit postharvest diseases anthracnose and stem-end rot. Alternaria spp. are also very common in plant tissues as saprophytes or secondary colonisers (and as primary pathogens in many crops, eg A. solani causing early blight in tomato and potato), and their capacity to cause disease in avocado is currently under investigation. There is insufficient evidence at this stage to confirm that fungi are the primary cause of the problem. A complex of factors is likely involved, including tree stress at flowering (and perhaps stress as early as floral initiation, several months before flowering), abundance of flower compared with leaf, root systems which can’t support the demand for water at flowering, and other environmental factors such as hot drying winds, poor quality (high salinity) irrigation water, sunburn, hail damage etc.
Figure 1. Dieback symptoms are more frequently observed on functionally determinate panicles several weeks after flowering and fruit set.Figure 2. There is no fruit produced on panicles with dieback.Figure 3. Trees affected by panicle dieback over 2+ consecutive years may have characteristic “knuckle”-like branching, where multiple vegetative shooting has occurred behind the dead sections.Figure 4. Vegetative shoot growth on dieback-affected branches can be weak.Figure 5. Panicle dieback is frequently observed in young trees which are attempting to set their first commercial crop. Image: grower/agronomist.
Panicle and shoot dieback in young trees
In Australia, another dieback issue often affects newly planted trees (eg up to 12 months old). We have seen dieback of vegetative shoots, and frequently of flowering shoots as well (Figures 6, 7), and in both cases this can lead to death of the tree. Nurseries collect Hass budwood for grafting from physiologically mature trees, which are programmed to flower and set fruit. Thus, they may be predisposed to flower instead of putting on vegetative growth. Flowering in trees <12 months after planting (and sometimes while still in the nursery), places undue stress on these young trees, which may not have the root systems to support the high demand for water and nutrients at flowering and set, thus succumbing to dieback. Our extensive diagnostic work over the last year or so shows that the dieback can be related to severe destruction of the root systems by Phytophthora cinnamomi (Figure 8) or necrosis at the graft union caused by Colletotrichum spp. or other fungi (Figure 9). If root systems are relatively healthy, shooting of the rootstock below the graft is common (Figures 6, 7).
Figure 6. In young, establishing trees, flowering places undue stress on the tree, and may result in dieback. Image: grower/agronomistFigure 7. Shooting of the rootstock below the graft union in young trees may suggest a reasonably healthy (or recovering) root system. A poor graft union combined with stress at flowering contributes to dieback.Figure 8. Phytophthora cinnamomi, or other root pathogens, can be present in roots of nursery trees, or in blocks previously planted with avocado if pre-planting steps to reduce the existing inoculum load in soil are not followedFigure 9. Infection at the graft with pathogenic fungi is common, but severe necrosis can occur when young trees are placed under stressful growing conditions, resulting in dieback of the scion
What are we doing about it?
Research activity has been included in the industry-funded project Improving avocado orchard productivity through disease management (AV16007) to investigate the issue/s.
Two field trials in Central Queensland commenced in September 2020. There are 10 fungicide treatments, including nil and industry standard controls. There are 4 curative fungicides (with post-infection activity), which are not currently registered in avocado.
First sprays commenced during flowering, with no observable phytotoxicity. Follow up applications will continue as per industry standard programs until harvest.
We have collected limited data on fruit retention and severity of dieback, with final yields and postharvest disease severity to come. Effects of fungicide treatments on panicle dieback may not be apparent until the following flowering and set, assuming that fungi play a major role.
Two sections of 5 consecutive trees with severe panicle dieback (Figure 10, 11) were injected with phosphonate then heavily pruned 4-6 weeks later and painted for sunburn protection (Figure 12). These trees will be monitored for flowering and occurrence of dieback during September to December 2021
The relative aggressiveness or pathogenicity of different fungi to cause severe disease e.g. blight of flowers or dieback in branches, is currently under investigation in glasshouse trials.
Evaluation of different fungicides or biofungicides as pruning wound or post-hail dressings is in final stages.
Figure 10. A section of trees with severe panicle dieback in a row adjacent to the trial at Childers, Queensland.Figure 11. One of the trees as shown in Figure 10, with red spray paint to indicate limb removal zone.Figure 12. Trees were injected with phosphonate, then several weeks later staghorned and painted. Recovery of these trees and incidence of panicle dieback will be monitored. Image: grower/agronomist.
What can you do about it?
As for management strategy, maintaining optimum tree health at all times by good agronomic and Phytophthora root rot management is important. Growers should also encourage strong root growth so that trees have the necessary root systems to support the heavy demand for water at flowering. Consider removing excessive panicles prior to full bloom, prune out the branches with dieback and maintain good orchard hygiene practices. The dieback skeletons harbour abundant spores of pathogenic fungi (Figure 13), which can cause new infections on fruit surfaces leading to anthracnose in mature, ripe fruit.
For newly planted blocks, minimise tree stress! Plant trees with abundant, disease-free roots, protect them from sun and wind, don’t over-water, and walk through rows to remove flower buds to favour spring and summer vegetative growth to help the young trees establish.
Figure 13. Dead branches, mummified fruit and panicle “skeletons” remaining within the canopy are excellent sources of inoculum (spores) for subsequent infections of fruit and potentially other tissues if conditions are favourable. Microscopic examination of the grey coloured growth (see close-up) revealed abundant Colletotrichum spp. spores.
More information
This QAAFI science seminar was presented by the AV16007 team on 17 August 2021
(If the video does not play, it can also be found on the QAAFI website here.)
Acknowledgement
The Improving avocado orchard productivity through disease management (AV16007) project is funded by Hort Innovation, using the avocado research and development levy, and contributions from the Australian Government. Thank you to the many growers, farm managers and agronomists who have provided samples and helpful information, and to our field trial collaborators.
This article was produced for Talking Avocados and Avoscene, in January 2021.
Off the back of a successful Q4 campaign, Australian Avocados will partner with Nova Entertainment Network again for the upcoming Shepard season to create mass awareness of Australian Avocados through the heart-felt ‘Our Green Gold’. Nova is a national metropolitan network with talent leading the way in connecting listeners when it comes to changing product perception. There will be a competition component, where listeners will be invited to identify ‘Green Gold’ anthems and go into the draw to win a major prize, as well as supporting brand radio activity. In addition, there will be amplification through retail out of home advertising to keep avocados top of mind on the final path to purchase and always-on social to increase awareness of the Shepard variety during key season.
