Crop load

November 2006 | Prepared by AgFirst | Future Orchards® Orchard Walk notes

This early Future Orchards® crop-load resource sets out the basic principle that the number of fruit carried by a tree must be matched to its productive capacity and the quality requirements of the market. Crop load influences fruit size, colour, eating quality, maturity, return bloom and ultimately the value of the harvested crop.

The notes encourage growers to move from visual estimates to measurable targets. Yield objectives can be translated into fruit numbers per hectare and per tree, then refined according to tree size, planting density, variety and expected losses between thinning and harvest. Historical block performance is especially important because the optimum level is not identical across every orchard.

The resource provides a foundation for later Future Orchards® work on TCA, BCA, fruit-size monitoring and crop-load calculators. Its core message remains relevant: set a target before thinning, measure what the trees are carrying, and adjust the crop so yield and quality are optimised together.