Invaluable two-way conversations at PIPS3 roadshow

The PIPS3 Program has completed a mammoth roadshow across apple and pear growing regions of Australia, to extend both national and local outcomes of research, development and demonstration activities undertaken over the past three years.

The roadshow commenced in late March at Agriculture Victoria’s Tatura SmartFarm Horticulture Field Day and concluded last week at the Fruit Growers Tasmania Conference in Launceston, with regional field events held in between at Nashdale (NSW), Lenswood (SA), Manjimup (WA) and Rookwood (Tasmania). 

PIPS3 Program Coordinator Marguerite White said that the interest shown by growers and advisors across the country demonstrates that they are keen to hear directly from the researchers and consultants delivering the projects. 

“The events were a great opportunity for open and practical discussion. The less formal regional events allowed everyone to get into the orchard for some great discussions. While not all research components were undertaken in all regions, the researchers introduced the key learnings and messages from their investigation and trials over the past three years. Growers swiftly applied these to their own orchard systems and local growing conditions such as climate, soil type, water availability, pests and weeds, and fruit varieties and rootstocks.” 

Integrated pest and disease management  

Nashdale, Lenswood and Rookwood attendees eagerly participated in the much-anticipated Mastrus ridens release, a biological control agent for codling moth. 

“The PIPS3 IPDM-focused project (AP19002), led by Greg Lefoe and his team at Agriculture Victoria Research and Steve Quarrell at the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture (TIA), imported, quarantined and reared a new and more viable population for improved establishment in PIPS3. Attendees participated in release activities, hanging clear containers holding the wasp larvae around the release orchards,” Marguerite said. 

Discussions that followed included creating environments more conducive to beneficials in the inter row, tree line and surrounding landscape of orchards, and taking an integrated approach to managing pests to reduce reliance upon, and resistance to, chemicals. Grower experiences were able to be compared to the project’s three-year conservation bio-control trials that were undertaken in the Experimental Pear Orchard at the Tatura SmartFarm over the past three years, and the orchard floor soil health demonstration trials conducted locally as part of the soil health project (AP19006). 

“It was really valuable to have grower-led discussion on their management decisions, especially the ways in which they are transitioning to more sustainable practices, and the mindset challenge this also raises for them, especially the concept of a ‘tidy’ orchard,” Marguerite said. “Greg Lefoe was very open about the difficulties the project had in establishing native species in the trial site at Tatura, which led to growers sharing their experiences and ideas in managing the orchard floor to balance attracting predatory insects, wasps and mites while also controlling pests and weeds.” 

Soil health and nutrition   

Dr Nigel Swarts (TIA) and Dr Sally Bound (TIA) along with the regional facilitators of the PIPS3 soil health and nutrition project (AP19006) demonstration sites – Jess Fearnley (Orange, NSW), Paul James (Lenswood, SA) and Susie Murphy White (Manjimup, WA) – presented on the inter-row and tree-line management trials that were implemented from 2020 to 2023.  

Across the sites, varying treatments have resulted in management challenges and some initial correlation with fruit quality and soil health benefits, though the key message was that soil health changes take time, and most demonstration sites will be continued in PIPS4. Each of the demonstration site hosts – Bec Whittaker (WA), Matt Flavell (SA) and Scott Price (Tas) – provided insight into their observations and management experiences of the sites over the past three years.  

There was agreement that the legume grass mixes provided the best coverage for tractability, and beneficial changes to the soil physical properties in the inter row were observed, with the natives being the most difficult to establish. Under the tree line, although different products were used, the application of organic compost saw leaves held on the trees for longer across the three sites, though there was discussion around the cost of use. 

Climate  

Climate challenges were a strong focus of the events, with Dr Ian Goodwin discussing the impacts of heat and sunburn on fruit quality and colour development, and the pros and cons of mitigation management using netting, evaporative cooling and row orientation. Dr Lexie McClymont also presented more formally on this topic at the FGT Conference. 

Work on the impacts of crop load on fruit yield and quality, and ways to avoid biennial bearing were also presented and discussed by Ian. He shared data on fruit set number and fruit weight across varying light interception ranges in pears, and the way in which sensing technology can be used to determine specific crop load targets. 

Technologies  

The use of agtech in the orchard and making management decisions with support platforms was a popular discussion point across all events.  

Ian discussed the results of assessing Green Atlas Cartographer as a useful rapid orchard assessment tool in the orchard as part of the apple and pear systems projects (AP19003 and AP19005), led by Agriculture Victoria Research. The ground-based mobile sensing platform was calibrated and validated to measure and map flower cluster number, fruit number, fruit size, fruit colour and tree size, and advise on crop load distribution in an orchard in PIPS3. He demonstrated to SA, WA and Tasmanian (FGT conference) participants its benefits in providing accurate block data on the variability of fruit number and pre-harvest forecasting of fruit distribution and yield, and highlighted potential for improved decision-making in other spatial operations such as thinning, pruning, leaf blowing and variable rate spraying. 

Nigel demonstrated developments made to the SINATA tool (strategic irrigation and nitrogen assessment tool for apples) in PIPS3 (AP19006). The Excel-based tool has been integrated into the irrigation and nutrition precision online software, SWAN Systems, to now function as a forecasting and scheduling tool using real-time weather data. The prototype was trialled by leading growers in each region, who shared their experiences at the PIPS3 events in making decisions using the data and mapping generated. SWAN Systems representatives presented on the tool in both SA and WA. 

Displays and demonstration 

PIPS3 Program displays at the Tatura Horticulture Field Day and FGT Conference provided growers and local advisors with the opportunity to learn more about the activities of the PIPS3 Program and to chat with researchers about the latest findings and developed resources. The SWAN Systems platform was an interactive display where growers could use the software to generate irrigation and fertigation usage and scheduling maps. Fact sheets and more scientific papers were available to everyone who visited the displays. 

“The PIPS team has been eagerly preparing and delivering these events, while also completing the final stages of research, but all agree that the two-way conversations have been invaluable and growers have continued to follow up with certain team members ever since. These types of days and conversations will certainly continue in PIPS4,” Marguerite concluded. 

The Spring 2023 edition of AFG magazine will feature summary articles about the PIPS3 Program projects. 

Further information 

Marguerite White, PIPS3 Program Coordinator 

Email: [email protected] 

Phone: 0447 500 415 

Thank you!  

The PIPS3 Program team would like to thank the following people for their enormous contribution to the PIPS3 Program Researcher Roadshow events: 

Event support 

• Paul James (Lenswood Cooperative) and Grant Piggott (Fruit Growers SA) 
• Susie Murphy White (Pomewest) 
• Jessica Fearnley and Kevin Dodds (NSW DPI) 
• Michael Tarbath (Fruit Growers Tasmania) 
• Michele Buntain (TIA)  

Soil health orchard floor demonstration sites and event hosts 

• Bec Whittaker, WA 
• Matt and Andy Flavell, SA 
• Scott Price, Tas 

SWAN Systems (SINATA) trial 

• Robert Green, SA 
• Joe Fontanini, WA 
• Brett Squibbs, Tas 
• Jason Shields, Vic 
• Jeremy Smart, NSW 

Mastrus release host sites 

• Scott Price, Tas 
• Alex Hulak, NSW 
• Ashley Green, SA  

Acknowledgements 

The PIPS3 Program has been funded by Hort Innovation, using the apple and pear research and development levy, contributions from the Australian Government and co-investment from Agriculture Victoria and the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture. Hort Innovation is the grower-owned, not-for-profit research and development corporation for Australian horticulture. 

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With thanks to the PIPS3 Program’s regional partners

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