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New citrus growing guide gets set to land for Christmas
Work is well underway to create a new guide for citrus growers to replace the Growing Citrus in New Zealand guide which has served the industry for 20 years.
By Geoff Lewis
The two-year task of creating a contemporary guide is in the hands of the Citrus NZ Research Committee, composed of Matt Carter, Keith Pyle, Wayne Hall and Sally Anderson and co-funded by Citrus NZ and the NZ Fruitgrowers’ Charitable Trust.
A launch was planned for the Citrus NZ national conference in September, then November, and now hopefully in March 2022, barring any further disruptions from Covid-19. Matt Carter is a Citrus NZ board member. He is also a Gisborne grower of navel and Valencia oranges. He says, in producing the new guide, consideration was given to an electronic online form but many growers were more comfortable with the familiar paper-based format. While the 2001 edition had been produced as a book, the new guide has been designed as a series of modules which are available online through the Citrus NZ website. The series of modules allows for updates and new material to be included as it becomes available. A print format will also be available to growers, which can be inserted into a folder for ease of use.
Pests and diseases will not be covered in the new guide as these are catered for under Integrated Pest Management (IPM) on the Citrus NZ website, which also allows for online postings of urgent updates. Citrus NZ research manager, Sally Anderson, says the modular publication covers all aspects of growing citrus. Modules that are available now to growers include irrigation, picking and harvest protocols, citrus maturity, frost management and pruning. Sally noted that more modules are planned for release over the next ten months including varieties and rootstocks, topworking, citrus nutrition, irrigation, frost management, crop volume estimation, thinning, growth regulators and weed control.
At the end of the project, the citrus industry will have a completely revised and refreshed set of resources that growers can use to complement their own growing practises. There are about 320 citrus growers around New Zealand, with the foremost growing areas in Northland and Gisborne. At one time citrus was popular in the western Bay of Plenty but has been largely displaced by kiwifruit and avocados in that region. Citrus NZ executive manager Rebecca Fisher says citrus production is valued at about $60 million in the domestic market with about $12 million going to export.
All Citrus NZ growers and members can access the growing guideline by logging into the member portal at www.citrus.co.nz. If you do not know your login details please email:
