Cultivating healthy soil: a PIPS3 project update

Dr Sally Bound and Michele Buntain presented updates and findings from their research at the recent APAL Future Orchards Walk in Tasmania. The impact of soil health and nutrition on orchards is on growers’ minds, with the Soil Your Undies challenge underway in Tasmania and WA as part of Improved Australian apple and pear orchards soil health and plant nutrition project (AP19006), led by the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture – read more about the challenge here.

This video provides a quick update on the management treatments being tested in the Rookwood Site. The PIPS3 Program research trial is one of five associated with the Improved Australian apple and pear orchards soil health and plant nutrition project (AP19006).    

The research trials are studying a range of sustainable management treatments applied to tree-lines – cover crops (legume/grass mix), compost mulch, grower practices – and inter-rows – native herbaceous mix, flowering meadow mix, grass/legume mix – to better understand relationships between soil health, tree health, growth and fruit yield, productivity and quality. 

Learn more about the objectives of AP19006 here.