The Passion Vine
The Passion Vine – October 2016
21 Turramurra Road, Tarragindi, QLD 4121
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December 2016
President’s Report By Tina McPherson As the end of the year races at us with seemingly higher speed than normal, it’s an appropriate time to take a moment and reflect on the year that was! It seemed the only advantage of a warm winter where production was down, certainly for us, was the early flower set. The very welcome early production we are experiencing in this region has been helped by relatively stable market conditions for the last 3 months. Hopefully for everyone’s sake these will continue into Christmas and beyond! Summer has already produced her litany of challenges however! Rutherglen Bug, the nasty sap sucking insect, has been found in plague proportions. As most of us are aware, Rutherglen Bugs usually come in on storm fronts and it is these same early summer storms that have created disasters for growers across several regions. They certainly make for nail biting afternoons of anticipation and many growers spending their days with one eyed glued to the screen of their weather app. In a particularly heavy fall here we had a domino effect in our trellis that resulted in a hundred or so posts lying down. We felt fortunate that
this was our only damage! Close by Peter and Sally Griffiths were particularly unlucky and a bushfire, that fortunately left their nursery and home untouched, burnt 400 vines and associated trellising. All this and we are only two weeks into real “summer”!! The warm weather and storms has meant that in our region the plantings for this Spring, whilst a little late going in, are doing rather well. Blind tips continue to be a problem for nurseries and consequently the industry. It is hoped the breeding project now well underway with Southern Cross University, and funded by our levies, will be able to help us find a solution in the form of new varieties. Whilst on nurseries, it is important to note that nurseries and their role in our industry are a challenge that we need to look at closely in the New Year. With Birdwood no longer continuing
Newsletter of Passionfruit Australia Incorporated
to supply passionfruit plants, the industry is supported by only two nurseries and this is a strategic risk that the association should address on behalf of industry in 2017. The new committee has met once since the AGM. Issues for focus in 2017 will include our ongoing involvement in the breeding programme; grower engagement and communication (a revamp of the industry website and the newsletter in line with the outcomes from the grower engagement survey conducted by Margie); export possibilities and working with HIA to undertake a project to collect production and supply chain data. Plans are underway for a general meeting in Northern NSW and for the AGM next year we will be back in North Queensland. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all members who have volunteered their time and expertise for the committee in 2015/2016 and for the new committee in 2016/2017. Passionfruit growers have a wealth of talents and expertise in addition to growing the fruit itself and it is
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