Articles
PRODUCTION OF FRUIT FOR PROCESSING
The latter event precipitated a perennial profit margin squeeze that continues to drive farmers to increase efficiency.
Growers have adopted several major and many minor innovations to overcome productivity bottlenecks in processing fruit orchards.
Major yield increases resulted when growth regulators were introduced to increase fruit set and reduce preharvest losses of Bartlett pears.
Similarly DDT overcame serious wastage from codlin moth in pears.
These successes became models, and modern management systems for fruit abscission and pest control for the other fruit crops rapidly followed.
In Australia where production areas are characterized by poorly structured soils, advances in soil management and irrigation technology now largely prevent serious losses resulting from waterlogging especially for peaches.
The development of air-blast sprayers and bulk handling greatly reduced labour costs while replacement of cultivation with pasture sod and herbicides has facilitated manual operations as well as reducing labour costs.
To make further productivity gains farmers and scientists must stress technology that aims to obtain early and high yields.
High tree numbers per ha requiring new systems and management skills will be indispensible.
Opportunities now exist with paclobutrazol and regulated deficit irrigation (RDI) to gain complete control of tree vigour.
This technology raises the possibility of the ‘instantly productive orchard’ which can allow orchardists to cope with contemporary economic problems.
This would leave mechanical harvesting as the last major hurdle for the fruit production industry to overcome.
Although mechanical harvesters have been modestly successful remaining barriers are sufficient to indicate that problems will persist for some time.
Perhaps it is time for a different approach to mechanical harvesting.