TEMPERATE ZONE FRUIT PRODUCTION IN THE TROPICS AND SUBTROPICS: OCEANIA

Within the subtropical regions of Australia there is a well established low-chill stonefruit industry with over 1200 hectares of peaches and nectarines in production.
Almost all cultivars originated from the University of Florida breeding program and are grown in locations providing sufficient chill.
There is therefore no requirement for dormancy avoidance techniques or dormancy releasing chemicals.
The Australian low-chill stonefruit industry depends upon being the sole supplier to domestic markets from early October to early December.
After this time fruit from high-chill areas enters the market place and prices for low-chill stonefruit drop dramatically.
In recent years commercial plantings of low-chill plums, grapes, apples and pears have been made; but peaches and nectarines still predominate as the major varieties of deciduous fruit grown in the subtropical regions of Australia.

For the Malay archipelago (Indonesia and Philippines) the climate is almost exclusively tropical and successful production of temperate zone deciduous fruit crops is achieved by means of dormancy avoidance.
This is achieved by a defoliation-induced resumption of growth approximately one month after harvest.
Dormancy release chemicals can sometimes be used to supplement defoliation treatments and to substitute for inadequate chilling.
Apples and grapes are the major deciduous crops grown within the Malay Archipelago, but trial plantings of peaches and nectarines have also been made with some success.

Tropical Fruits, XXIII I.H.C.

J. Lloyd

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1992.296.30