RESEARCH is underway to help make tropical fruit orchards more resilient to cyclones.
The Western Australia Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) will be the Western Australian lead in the Cooperative Research Centre for Developing Northern Australia (CRCNA) project, which aims to develop next generation resilient orchard production technology.
The project comes nine years after the Queensland government backed similar research in north Queensland.
The three-year project will investigate the use of both high-density plantings and trellis systems to examine their suitability for tropical fruit production in northern Australia.
Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus) has been chosen as the model crop for the project, as it is a versatile and productive tree crop, highly suited to production across a range of climatic zones in northern Australia.
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DPIRD will establish trial and demonstration sites in Carnarvon and Kununurra, with each site using a mixture of seedlings, grafted trees and cuttings to evaluate the selected varieties for commercial production.
Department research scientist Tara Slaven said the project would demonstrate to growers the numerous benefits associated with high-density planting.
"The key objective of the project is to demonstrate the management and productivity benefits associated with high-density and trellised plantings for cyclone resilience," Ms Slaven said.
"It will also allow us to evaluate the commercial suitability of new jackfruit selections and propagation methods at multiple sites across north Australia.
"The results from the trials will provide growers with a production method that mitigates the risks associated with tropical cyclones, enabling expansion of the horticultural sector and economic development through new plantings across this region."
Ms Slaven said while the project was using jackfruit as the model crop, the high-density planting approach could be modified and used for the majority of tropical fruit crops grown in northern Australia.
"Throughout the project, we will collect data on tree growth rates, fertiliser and irrigation inputs, pest and disease issues, canopy development, flowering and harvest dates, yield and fruit flesh recovery," she said.
"Various economic assessments and guidance materials will be developed to assist potential growers adopt the demonstrated next generation resilient orchard production systems."
It's not the first time cyclone resilience for fruit crops has been explored at a research level.
In 2012, the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (now AgriFutures Australia) granted about $500,000 over four years for the Queensland department of agriculture to work with producers to develop ways of better protecting tropical primary industries such as fruit, beef, dairy, forestry and aquaculture.
Trellises and other techniques were options touted at the time as a possible solutions to the damage caused to tree crops by severe tropical storms.
Other horticulture production and risk-mitigation techniques to studied at the time included nursery techniques that promote healthier plants with stronger root systems, and pruning techniques and timing.
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