Orchard walk: Batlow, March 2007

March 2007 | Batlow Fruit Co-operative orchards | Ross Wilson, AgFirst

This Batlow Future Orchards walk combined presentations by Ross Wilson with an orchard tour led by local consultant Ron Gordon. A major focus was harvest maturity and fruit quality in Cripps Pink and Fuji, including starch pattern index, brix, pressure and the risks of using colour alone as a harvest trigger.

The report also examines tools for improving colour and maturity alignment, including high-colour strains, pruning, vigour control, crop-load management, reflective ground covers and multiple picks. A second theme was rapid canopy development in young plantings, with discussion of tree-row volume, light interception and the need to fill canopy space quickly enough to generate early commercial yields.