Nematode survey in developing orchards at Orange and Batlow

2017 | Kevin Dodds and Adam Coleman | Future Orchards® 2016–17 trial report

Replant and young-orchard performance can be affected by soil-borne pests, including plant-parasitic nematodes. This Future Orchards® trial report by Kevin Dodds and Adam Coleman investigates how widespread nematode infestation was in developing orchards at Orange and Batlow and records the population levels and major genera detected.

The survey approach provides growers with evidence about whether nematodes are likely to be a meaningful component of poor tree establishment or variable growth in local replant situations. It also demonstrates why soil and root-zone diagnosis should precede treatment decisions: similar above-ground symptoms can have different underlying causes.

The report is useful for growers planning redevelopment or investigating weak young trees. Its practical message is to quantify the problem where possible and use diagnostic information to guide any pre-plant or in-orchard management response rather than assuming nematodes are present.

For library users, this resource is most useful as a record of the technical thinking and field evidence available at the time. Product registrations, resistance advice and regional pest pressure can change, so any present-day control decision should be checked against current labels and local recommendations while retaining the monitoring and decision-making principles described here.