Avoscene June 2011

T H E N E W Z E A L A N D AV O C A D O G R O W E R S ’ J O U R N A L

Inside this Issue l

Pruning trial

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Pest Control

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Research Programmes Update Promotions

JUNE/JULY 2011

Directors Bay of Plenty Ashby Whitehead Ph 07 573 6680 alwhitehead@xtra.co.nz Far North Ian Broadhurst Ph 09 406 7308 m. 021 395 906 bernian.avos@xtra.co.nz Mid North Mike Eagles Ph 09 434 7271 m.eagles@xtra.co.nz At Large Roger Barber (Vice Chairman NZ AGA) Ph/Fax 09 435 0785 barbers@ihug.co.nz Kim Crocker Ph 07 548 1090 kim_crocker@orcon.net.nz John Schnackenberg (Chairman NZ AGA/AIC) Ph 07 549 0717 jschnack@ihug.co.nz Tony Ponder Ph 07 572 3019 tony@southernproduce.co.nz Rest of NZ David French Ph 09 238 3359 or 0274 375 315 famille@ps.gen.nz Export Directors John Carroll, Andrew Darling.

Avoscene Advertising & Editorial Avoscene is published by the Avocado Industry Council For editorial contact: Natasha Mitchell Sun Media Ltd No.1 The Strand, Tauranga Ph: 07 578 0030 Fax: 07 571 1116 email natasha@thesun.co.nz For advertising contact: Daphne Keller at Sun Media Ltd email daphne@thesun.co.nz Design and production: Kym Johnson, Sun Media Ltd email kym@thesun.co.nz Printed at: Kale Print Subscriptions NZ $100 plus GST per year (four issues) In New Zealand NZ $27 per single copy

Industry Office PO Box 13267, Tauranga 3141 Ph: 07 571 6147 or 0800 AVOCADO (0800 286 2236)

Fax: 07 571 6145 www.nzavocado.co.nz

Contents Chairman’s Comment

4

Business Strategy

7

Avocentric

12

Outreach

16

Avogreen

18

Update on Research Projects

27

Pruning Trial

30

Quality Standards

37

NZ Promotion

49

By AGA chairman John Schnackenberg

The season that was From both a local market and export perspective, last season did end up reasonably well for those with crop, but it has disappointed many in terms of total production.

However, most were probably very happy with their result, until they started looking at the grass over the fence.

Straight after their final payment, one packer/ exporter group was first out of the starting gates publishing their ‘average’ OGR (orchard gate return) results. The wide-spread consternation that this publication of ‘apparent’ OGR information caused reminds me of the Mark Twain/Benjamin Disraeli attributed quote “Lies, damned lies and statistics”. That’s the competitive nature between our packers and exporters at work.

The Avocado Growers’ Association is not (yet) in the business of validating packer/exporter OGR information and, given the complexities of establishing a level playing field, we may not wish to go there. Quite apart from that, it would be a fool who assumes that the best return this year is repeatable next. A significant number of factors go into final returns to growers and I am listing a few here and undoubtedly you will think of more. Because of these variables, each exporter’s position may vary season to season.

• Access to Australian retail. Retail typically delivers better returns, but the ‘hot’ January 2010 Australian wholesale market favoured those with a bias towards wholesale at that time; • The split between retail and wholesale; and • The flow through the season (i.e. was it evenly spread or biased to the early part of the season or the later part, and which delivered the best returns?); • Promotional support provided by the exporter (i.e., you the grower) to grow the retail programme; • Volume air freighted vs. sea freighted; • Split of export to destinations other than Australia (recently the more, the potential negative effect on the ‘pool’, but done by most to establish and develop new markets); 4

• Exporter shipping arrangements and associated freight costs; • Fruit out-turn problems typically adopted as a pool cost; • A nationwide seasonal pool, or a by contributing packhouse regional pool?

In analysing your return, you might like to ask your exporter how or if these factors impact your result.

The season that will be This is the year the rubber meets the road in terms of potential performance of harvesting, packing and exporting. We have a record crop according to initial crop estimates, in total an indicative 5.4m to 5.8m trays with potentially 3.3m+ trays to be exported. That is based on a net 60% exported. We hope, given the decent crop, the consequences of an over supplied local market and AvoGreen® practise, we may see more like 65% of the crop exported which may push total exports towards 4m.

We know that all that cannot go to Australia and most exporters have been quietly working diligently towards establishing and developing new markets.

There is a real risk that we may get it wrong with respect to Australia (oversupply) and it is critically important that our exporters put real effort into shifting big volumes to markets elsewhere lest we inadvertently test the tipping point in the Australian wholesale market.

By way of illustration, assume the wholesale market drops by say A$5 with a million NZ trays yet to get there (of say a target 2.7m) due to a 100,000 tray over-supply at a critical time. An extra 100,000 trays being sent to the USA at an OGR of as low as NZ$5 (possible given the exchange rate with US) would seem a small price to pay to avoid such a huge consequence to total FOB values. We all need to shoulder this burden evenly to extract the best result for all.

Many of you will now be being wooed by your exporter’s preparatory to signing up for the next season.

Arm yourself with the former list of variables and assess your proposed exporter against that list. Particularly pay attention to the opportunities they have in terms of non-Australian markets, including the

USA. What may be a small hiccup in Australia will mean major consequences for all NZ growers.

Matters political Government Industry Agreements – Bio-security This matter is progressing but along with HortNZ and fellow product groups, we have been dismayed that MAF may not have been listening to the pleas that have been made for change, and among other things, a neutral entity to manage the biosecurity relationship between MAF and product groups, rather like the Australian model of Plant Health Australia. We await the outcome of meeting between the Minister of Agriculture and HortNZ and product group CEOs (including ours).

Capital rating Now effected in Western Bay of Plenty and something that all growers in other regions need to be on the lookout for.

Capital rating is designed to broaden the ratings base from just land value and where implemented, not only the value of your buildings but also your trees and vines are valued and rated.

WBOP ratepayers note that new valuations are in the process of being issued. I doubt there would be few of you who think that land and trees and vines values have increased since last valuations. Have them checked - check with you neighbours, check with a valuer, check with the AIC office for guidance.

At all costs, object if the value appears unreasonable. In my case, I have allowed a capital value associated with mature avocado of approximately $230,000 per ha to sit on a title. Does anybody think their avo’s are worth $230k in addition to the land value?

Power lines Mike Eagles, our mid north regional representative, has been working with growers affected by Northpower lines running over their land. Northpower was seeking a District Plan change with Whangarei District Council to further restrict plantings of avocados under or near their transmission lines,

particularly where they are intending to raise the transmission voltage but not the height of the lines. In conjunction with Northpower, a Code of Practise for management of avocado trees (and shelter) under or near transmission lines has been developed which we are reviewing.

AGA Board Rotations At the last elections of AGA representatives (four appointed), we reduced the number of reps from 10 to 8 and introduced three year terms. For a transition period, some were to have a term of two years. At our recent Board meeting it was determined in accordance with clause 5.10 of the AGA Rules that Dave French (Rest of New Zealand) will serve a three year term to 2013 and Ashby Whitehead (Bay of Plenty) will be up for re-election in 2012.

Similarly Roger Barber (At Large) will serve a three year term to 2013 and Kim Crocker (At Large) will be up for reelection in 2012.

Nominations Nominations are being called for four positions for which terms are complete.

Ian Broadhurst (Far North) – available; Mike Eagles (mid North) – available, Tony Ponder (At Large) – available and myself (At Large) – available.

We usually see strong interest in representing growers at the AGA and becoming a director of AIC Limited and we hope this year will be no different.

AGM and World Congress A reminder that our AGM is being held in Whangarei this year, Friday August 12, with a Grower Forum taking place in the morning. We look forward to seeing as many growers there that can make it.

The Australian avocado industry is host to the four-yearly World Avocado Congress to be held in Cairns from September 5-9.

These world events attract up to 1000 attendees and are invariably extremely well worth attending for the range of presentations being given. Apart from that, Cairns is a great place to be at that time of the year after a wet and cold NZ winter.

5

$$$

Ultimately it’s about the dollar returns to you, our growers.

We pay good money - exceptional, in fact.

The figures? They sure put a smile on Graham’s face...

Enjoy the difference.

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Business Strategy Jen Scoular

AIC CEO

jen.scoular@nzavocado.co.nz

Out on the orchard I’m three months in but not getting too comfortable behind the desk because getting out onto orchards and meeting you is a vital part of my role.

I’ve really enjoyed meeting more growers at the recent field days on pest management. You talked in the grower survey about your preference for field days and discussion groups and the turnouts we are getting at the field days has been excellent. Paul Brookbanks is doing a great job arranging and presenting at these and your feedback on them helps us make sure we are delivering value to you, both in the way we are presenting information and the information we are presenting. As we have said at each field day, please do contact us if you have suggestions and ideas that may enhance the way we communicate with you.

I am enjoying orchard visits to see the excellent crop on the trees right now. If we take the midpoint of our first crop estimate of 5.4-5.8m trays, we are looking in 2011-12 at the biggest ever season for the NZ avocado industry, 80% higher

than the season just gone and 21% higher than the 2007-08 year. We have revised the Export Marketing Strategy (EMS) this year to better enable exporters to develop markets in South East Asia. Exporters are supporting the MRL project where we work with those markets to set maximum residue levels (MRLs) for the chemicals we use in the avocado industry. Our objective is to have those markets, namely Singapore, Korea, Malaysia, Thailand and Hong Kong to accept the same MRL as we have in New Zealand. In the EMS and Quality Manual we have anticipated NZ equivalence and set, for those SE Asian markets, the withholding period (WHP) that would be required if the MRL was the same as the NZ MRL. We have highlighted this to exporters and require in the EMS that exporters are aware of the requirements of both the importing country and the importer. Please do be aware of what sprays are being used on your trees, and the implication of those sprays. Those at the recent field days will have heard the call loud and clear, the status of all market access should be the goal for all of your fruit.

We are planning the “Season Start” for the week beginning July 17 and the two grower forums, one in Whangarei the morning of the AGM, August 11 and

AIC Activity Highlights

the second one in Tauranga August 17.

The agenda for both of these allows for plenty of grower feedback as well as the opportunity for us to update you. We hope to see many of you during those events.

GIA Update I’m writing this the day before our meeting in Wellington with Agriculture Minister David Carter to discuss the Government Industry Agreement (GIA). We’ve pooled resources across the horticulture product groups and formed a working party who gave a strong message to MAF objecting to having the implementation of the GIA hurriedly pushed on us, without giving us the time we need to ensure the implementation firstly suits us and secondly is feasible for us. The government is advocating that industry shares in decision making which we like but shares also in costs which we need to agree on. We agree that the avocado industry needs a biosecurity plan and the work being done on GIA is helping us to develop one. Where there is doubt is what the model should look like, how costs might be shared and the timing of implementation. I hope our meeting with the Minister will emphasize this to him and provide a more feasible way forward.

April 2010 - June 2011

Volume

Value

Leadership

• Six AIC field days on Sprays held by Outreach Coordinator Paul Brookbanks in Far North, Whangarei, South Auckland, Katikati, Te Puna and Te Puke.

• AIC Scientist appointed on three month contract - Álvaro Vidiella.

• Pruning trial begins • John Leonardi (AAL) visits from Australia as one of the three scientists involved in the pruning trial

• Stage 1 and 2 of three stage consumer research project completed • AvoGreen auditing programme begins • The monthly monitoring programme for 2011 begins • AIC working with packers to improve performance of waterblasters

• NZAGA + AIC Board meeting.

• 2011-2012 Budget approved • 2011-2012 Export Marketing Strategy (EMS) approved • Quality Standards proposal approved • Export registration open • Jen Scoular attends meeting with Hon. David Carter to discuss GIA (Government Industry Agreements) • Jen Scoular, Henry Pak, Juan Rosales, Toni Elmsly, Midge Munro accepted to speak at VII World Avocado Congress, Cairns 5-9 September 2011 • Jen attends sustainability workshop held by Export NZ and NZTE • Sue Culham nominated and selected to attended HortNZ leadership programme • Call for nominations to the AGA executive

7

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Exporters’ Comment John Carroll AVEC Chairman

New enthusiasm In preparing this article, I had a look back over recent AvoScene issues and in particular the issue of 12 months ago. At that time, I made reference to our industry Achilles heel, that being the inconsistency of production.

Subsequently, with the spring fruit set of late 2010, our trees have in the most part delivered the largest crop we have even seen. And while that doesn’t mean we have fixed the biennial thing, it does mean we have a new enthusiasm as our industry faces a completely new logistics and marketing challenge.

In the last issue, I went over the events of the 2010/11 season; one that threw up some quirks, but in the main delivered exceptional returns back to the growers lucky enough to have a decent crop. Compared with the previous year, which offered an amazing spot market in Australia for a short period of five to six weeks, the value in the season just gone was a solid one throughout, although we saw a distinct value difference between larger fruit versus the small sizes. The large volume of fruit out of Western Australia had two components; first, they seemed to fall short on fruit size, and that meant strong values on offer for larger sizes.

However, their preponderance of smaller sizes, when added to our own smaller than usual profile, impacted small fruit pricing.

So we have enjoyed two very good years of strong pricing, but I contend we need

to keep perspective on this. In 2009/10, we faced a short Australian market that ran out of fruit in January. In 2010/11, while Australia had more fruit, especially Western Australia, our New Zealand crop was much lighter. Realistically, the Australian market upon which we depend so much has for the past two years been under supplied.

Now we are looking at an export crop expected to be in excess of 3.5 million trays for 2011/12, a volume more than double what we have just sold in the last season. I feel it is very important growers realise just what this means; the almost singular focus on Australia we have been allowed in recent times will not sustain us with the volume above 3.5 million. Yes, Australian domestic supply will, kindly, be much lighter than last year, and that can mean an attractive proposition for a sensible volume of fruit from New Zealand. But the point is: what is that sensible volume of fruit? We also need to understand that the Australian market will be what we make it in the year ahead; if we try to place too much volume in that market, it will bite us, no question. We have around a dozen NZ exporters, all with differing distribution arrangements in Australia, so it is imperative we work towards a volume of fruit that cannot destroy Australia’s market value, and flow that consistently. There is obviously debate about what that volume is, but it is probably somewhere between 2.5 and 2.7 million trays. And while I accept there is no perfect allowable method for this, it is essential all exporting parties develop significant sales programmes outside Australia.

This is a complex exercise, and we also need to recognise the commitments

we make outside Australia have to be made early, before we actually know real volumes. What if there are nearer four million trays, as we find the crops are heavier than first thought, and/ or pack-outs are higher? I guess the message I would like to drive home is the importance of exporters and their supporters making serious commitment outside Australia. With my simple maths, a figure some way over 20 per cent of our total NZ volume needs to find other homes. As a sobering thought, last year around seven per cent of all NZ volume was sold outside Australia, on a much smaller volume. So the task of a bigger percentage on double the crop volume is a huge fundamental shift.

I do believe most exporters will have the ability to create new customers in other markets, but the debate needs to happen well in advance of harvest, and those arrangements must be put in place. It would also be very helpful if the grower community can get this message understood, and support is given to your exporters. If we do not have this debate, and adopt a ‘wait and see’ approach to the season, we will inevitably choke Australia at some stage. For all the value it has offered us in the last two years, we must manage it carefully. Many exporters can quickly recall times when the Australian market has been over supplied, and the sinking feeling that comes with a market that has lost its way. Of course, given the possible pressure on harvest logistics with our big crop, it will be a difficult job to stop harvesting mid-season in order to stabilise the market.

Anyway, good luck to one and all as we winter over and prepare for the big crop.

It’s a great opportunity for us all.

9

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THE NE W ZEAL AN

D AV O C AD

O GROW E

RS’ JOU RNA

L DECEMBER

T H E N E W Z E A L A N D AV O C A D O G R O W E R S ’ J O U R N A L

09

MARCH 2010

JUNE/JULY 2010 ERS’ CADO GROW A L A N D AV O THE NEW ZE

JOURNAL

summer Inside this Issue

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Export and local markets PDA’s and crop monitoring Insidel this l NewIssue products and services Using pheromone traps l Add an Avo this Summer l Leafr oller moni toring

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Mechanica l labour clank Health s closer

benefits of avoca PRAWN AND AVOCADO BITE dos S

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entation ® Avogreen implem reps l Meet your regiona

1 avocado, roughly chopped 2 tablespoons reduced fat mayonnaise 1/2 teaspoo n wasabi paste 12 cooked prawns , peeled and tail left on

AVO005

Inside this Issue

Serves: 6 Prep Time: 5 minutes Cook Time: n/a

Spray drift s l New varietie

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For more

Mike Crum NZOAGI Chairman

easy recipe

6 slices pumper into 4cm roundsnickel bread cut 12 pieces pickled ginger

Dill sprigs Method:

That’s the programme for the whole year. This is fairly typical of the whole kiwifruit industry.

It wasn’t so long ago we were applying two to three weekly insecticides and pre- and post-flower plus pre-picking fungicides.

So what happened?

I think a very important part has been five per cent of the industry is certified organic and have been successful in controlling pests and disease without the intervention of chemicals.

Open canopies allowing sunlight to control botrytis was an early change.

Growing a grass sward as opposed to weed spraying has enabled us to control sclerotinia by forming a barrier stopping it from getting from the soil to the fruit.

Understanding our main pests through monitoring and then killing the juveniles through better timing was a major development.

These things became important to the industry because the market started demanding fruit grown in a sustainable way and with no chemical residues and paying more for better tasting fruit.

Copper usage is not sustainable in the avocado industry. Neither is the usage of high levels of nitrogen. Neither is our inability to consistently crop older trees.

Do organic growers have any answers for these problems? No, but we do have a different way of looking for them.

• Mash together avocad mayonnaise

o, and wasabi

• Place a dollop of avocad.

o mixture on each round, top with a and garnish prawn with ginger.

ideas, visi t addanavo.c om

11

By Natasha Mitchell

Passionate about prun Te Puna orchardist Frank Baggenstos believes a chainsaw is the avocado grower’s best friend and has already worn one out pursuing his passionate belief in the benefits of pruning avocado trees.

Frank and his wife Coryl own a three hectare orchard at Te Puna, which they purchased from Frank’s brother in 1994. That year they planted 350 avocado trees at 6m x 6m spacings on two hectares of the property.

These trees were later thinned to their current 12m x 12m spacings. In 2001, they planted another 0.4 hectares on sloping ground that had been terraced.

Because the property is too small to generate enough income to live off, Frank continues to work as a self-employed builder and Coryl is a speech and drama teacher.

This self-professed ‘mad pruner’ says the climate in the Bay of Plenty is marginal for growing avocados because it gets too cold and wet.

“Our trees tend to be very vegetative, which is different to most other growing countries,” says Frank.

He believes it is important to choose an orchard site that is frost free and has good air drainage. It’s a lesson the couple has learnt from experience. In 2009 their orchard experienced the heaviest frost in 30 years, with temperatures of below minus four degrees Celsius. The orchard’s production figures are still being affected today.

“I had just finished pruning my trees and they were lowered and very open, to allow light penetration. I lost 55 per cent of hanging fruit and the five 9-year-old trees died outright. Most of the other trees suffered cold damage to budwood and structural limbs, which will last for years. The cold killed the top half of the bark on many limbs as there was little canopy cover above.”

He also advises against planting marginal land, such as low lying or wet areas.

“I now regret planting the terraces we planted because of the amount of extra work involved for little return.”

12

Frank with one of his chainsaws. He believes his avocado orchard has the most pruned trees in New Zealand.

uning tree is in an off-year.” into the row.”

For those establishing an orchard, He also advises orchardists who choose Once trees reach seven years old, a Frank recommends planting trees in rows to prune to reduce their nitrogen input, major pruning can take place in April 10 metres apart with trees 10 metres as nitrogen encourages vegetative growth or May, followed by at least one or two apart along each row and pollinators in on heavily pruned trees. between these rows. About 15 per cent of regrowth strip-outs during the year.

Frank is now aiming to get regrowth Major pruning during summer should be the trees planted should be pollinators. on his own orchard to bear fruit before avoided as it makes the tree vulnerable He does not believe the Bay of Plenty’s it becomes too tall, so he will be trialling to sunburn. Frank suggests reducing the climate suits intense planting. the growth inhibitor Sunny in the next number of limbs within the tree by 50 Frank’s answer to the problems of year or so. He is also experimenting with per cent, especially vertically tending climate is to reduce vegetative growth doing major pruning in early September branches. through pruning. His trees are only five to avoid frost damage to exposed “It is very important to retain old metres high, which also means they budwood. wood though. When you are cutting are easy to pick and spray effectively.

Frank leaves all pruning under the tree out large trunks or limbs, try to keep However he is careful to state his as it creates great mulch. all internal small and weak branches on pruning philosophy is only his personal “I just push the larger trunks into the the remaining limbs. These, with new belief based on what he has seen on his centre of the tree, out of the way of the orchard over the last 17 years, rather than sunlight, will develop well and soon be covered in fruit. It’s far quicker and easier Hydraladas.” something proven by formal scientific Other orchard management practices than trying to get sucker regrowth to trials. include no longer using Roundup for fruit.”

“Pruning is a big decision to make In the early days on their orchard, Frank weed control (it dries the soil out too for any grower. My advice is to think much, says Frank) and encouraging followed the Australian experiment of carefully if you want to start pruning, aerated and uncompacted soil pruning trees into hedgerows but after because there is a lot of extra work conditions. about three years he decided this didn’t involved once you start and you’ve got to Despite the curve balls climate has work because it didn’t let enough light in. make a commitment to doing it. thrown their orchard, he remains He now employs his own theory, similar “I used to spend most of my spare time positive. fishing but now, for the last 12 years since to hedgerows but with space between “I am very grateful to my exporter, each tree; pruning trees to create an oval I first started pruning, you’re more likely Team Avocado, and also the AIC for all rather than a round shape, with two to find me with my favourite chainsaw, the field days and technical information picking bays cut into either side of the hacking at my trees.” they have put out.” tree.

Frank says tree thinning is also a good Frank believes option for those This tree illustrates Frank’s pruning technique, which creates picking bays around the tree. the Avocado who don’t want Industry to commit to a Council must heavy schedule of play a key role pruning. in keeping the Orchardists who industry unified do choose to prune and ensuring should aim to grow the quality trees with a single of avocado leader if possible. exports.

“Don’t start “The AIC should continue to pruning too early. This only opens the “Keep these picking bays open each introduce new varieties for the future tree up to light and encourages limbs to year. Light is the most important that may be more suitable to our cool, grow vertically. element in fruit set and these picking vegetative climate.

“For the first five to seven years, do little bays allow more light into the tree.

“I think the future looks rosy for the but ensure the tree is developing some “The trees seem to calm down after avocado industry, especially with the low, more spreading, horizontal limbs. about two to three years of heavy Leaving the canopy above encourages the pruning and only maintenance is needed great pay-outs over the last three years.

I only wish I had four or five hectares of tree to do this. Only take out the odd after this. And don’t prune all trees in suitable land available to plant out.” major limb that is coming out directly the same year – try and wait until the 13

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28ct Industry Average OGR

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By AIC outreach coordinator Paul Brookbanks - pbrookbanks@nzavocado.co.nz

Thripobius javae female parasitizing a GHT larvae

May grower meetings The May grower meetings on ‘Maximising the benefit from your sprays in avocado orchards’ were well attended. Meetings we’ve held in Mid North, Bay of Plenty, South Auckland and the Far North. Feedback forms handed in after each meeting indicated many growers would change their spray programme on the basis of the information presented.

The main topics covered during the meetings were pests, new and old chemistry, risks, how chemicals work, costs and beneficial insects.

The four major pests of avocados: • leafrollers • greenhouse thrips • armoured scale • six spotted mite These are commonly known to most growers and should be known by all those involved in AvoGreen monitoring. Their identification is critical as the choice of spray will depend on this.

Old and new chemistry The major difference between old and new chemistry is the target specificity of new products as well as their lower toxicity to the user and the environment, plus shorter withholding periods.

Old chemistry • Broad spectrum of activity.

• Affects the central nervous system of pests and user.

• Cumulative effect on user from insecticide exposure.

• Xylene added to form emulsion in water.

Can affect the respiratory system.

• Under review by ERMA. 16

• Activity: fumigant, contact and ingestion.

New chemistry • Affect the physiological processes found only in an insect.

• Need for caution despite the above.

Use protective clothing as recommended.

• Minimal-no impact on natural biological control agents.

• Activity: Unique M.O.A, fast acting, contact and stomach.

HSNO classification It is important to realise that many of the older products are earmarked for review

by ERMA and it is only a matter of time before organophosphates and carbamates will be gone or restrictions placed on their use. There is an inherent risk to users from exposure to organophosphates and carbamates as the enzyme (acetylcholinesterase) that breaks down the nerve impulse of acetyl coline is degraded and continued exposure can lead to mild effects or, in the worst case, death. The most critical time of exposure is while mixing the concentrate prior to dilution. It is important that protective clothing be used when mixing and while spraying. Details of the HSNO classification of any chemical can be found on the label, which should always be read, as well as in the Agchem manual.

Insecticide mode of action Insecticide mode of action does vary for old and new products. Organophosphates, carbamates and synthetic pyrethroids have an immediate knockdown affect whereas the newer chemistries generally take longer to kill insects. However, if an insect such as a leafroller larvae crawls or chews on a treated surface, it will stop feeding almost immediately. The insect may appear

unaffected but if the coverage was up to industry standard there should be no issue. As a consequence of this delay in the insect’s mortality, any monitoring following treatment should be done from 3-7 days after treatment. Another important factor is the product rate/ha and product rate/100L water. Concentrate spraying is based on the product rate /ha. Dilute spraying, which results in runoff, is based on the product rate/100 L water. If either of these rates are incorrect this could result in a sub-lethal dose and resistance development of the target pest or if too high a rate, wasted product and unnecessary expense. Don’t be tempted to put a little more in just to make sure. The rates specified on the label are there for a purpose! Exceeding label rates can lead to excess residues and your fruit being rejected for export.

Costs The cost of a chemical is a small fraction of the total cost of an applied spray. It is better to use the most effective product, and then to ensure that it is applied at an optimum time and with good coverage so that maximum coverage is achieved.

Retail pricing of old and new chemistry was obtained from a merchant and the following graph was produced (see below), clearly showing a relationship between withholding periods (a relatively short with-holding period is important for all market access) and the cost of the chemical.

Cheaper old type chemistry generally has a long with-holding period compared with the more expensive new chemistry with shorter withholding periods. There may be a few exceptions but overall the trend is clearly in favour of the new when it comes to all market access. This provides growers with greater flexibility when it comes to targeting specific pests prior to harvest.

vae zing vae

Thripobius javae cocoons on citrus

$ per hectare vs Withholding period

A restraint on product choice is the period that the fruit is at greatest risk of damage from the pest you are trying to control. The closer this risk period to your intended harvest, the shorter the with-holding period needs to be.

Choosing the wrong product can mean that your fruit may have restrictions placed on it in terms of which markets it can go to.

One of the benefits of AvoGreen monitoring is that sprays are applied prior to any economic loss from fruit damage or leaf loss due to six spotted mite infestation of leaves, provided you have done sufficient monitoring. The longer the interval between monitoring rounds the more chance there is that the pests will have caused economic damage (reduced pack-out) since your last monitoring round. High risk periods may vary from one region to another but the stage of crop development is crucial. For example, six spotted mite infestation in October or fruit touch around January/February when leafroller and greenhouse thrips damage is likely at touching surfaces.

it is possible to rear the wasp at home.

Once sufficient numbers are built up their release into the garden onto species like Rhododendron, Acmena or Photinia will see them establish and in future can be used for introduction to the orchard before periods of major thrips infestation. Your choice of insecticide will determine whether or not the introduced wasps survive.

Environmental impact of sprays The environmental impact of a spray varies from high to low depending on your choice of chemical.

Generally the highest impact is due to organophosphates and carbamates though there are chemicals in both these groups with moderate impact such as maldison and taufluvalinate. Low impact examples include oil, spinosad and Mimic and Bt’s. Low environmental impact products benefit both the user and maintain the diversity of beneficial insects.

Beneficial insects Parasitic wasps, parasitic flies, predators such as steely blue ladybirds, lacewings, damsel bugs and a huge variety of other insects can be beneficial in your orchard.

Thripobius javae(T.j) is a parasitic wasp that was introduced 10 years ago for the control of greenhouse thrips larvae.

Unfortunately it has not established well in orchards partly due to the broad spectrum insecticides used and the climate. Despite this there are colonies of Thripobius around the country and

Choosing a spray product When choosing a spray product you should consider: 1. What pests are present and which products are effective against this pest (or pests), 2. The time of season that the spray is needed and so the risk of residues at harvest, 3. The selectivity of the product, and so its wider impact.

Regional Discussion Groups Regional Discussion Groups are currently operating in various regions where growers meet on a regular or casual basis. Some are associated with packhouses and many issues are covered including pest control, pruning or picking protocol. I am keen to assist growers who are interested in being part of a discussion group. A draft ‘Information Kit’ has been produced with seven topics. These cover all aspects of orchard management issues with references to information sources and questions to get groups started. This is a science-based document using current data from recent trial work locally and internationally.

If you are interested in running or being part of a group please contact me on 0800 286 2236 17

Avogreen Technical

Dr David Steven

IPM Research

Pest control before and a Harvest is a critical time when that crop of fruit that looks so good on the tree has to be converted into cash.

Growers, packers and exporters all have roles to play in order to maximise returns and need to work together. The old adage that “you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear” applies in that low quality fruit cannot be made better by any magic moves or tricks at or after harvest; however it is also true that good fruit can easily be made bad if not handled correctly. By harvest growers have invested considerable effort and money into producing the crop, so that any losses at this stage bite hard into net returns. However, the most expensive losses are those even further down the supply chain, peaking when fruit is lost in export markets, since such fruit has already incurred the full costs of all the handling and processing needed to get them there.

What has all this to do with pest control? “Pest” in its broadest sense includes diseases, and ensuring fruit store well without storage rots is critical.

However, my particular concern is with

the direct cost impact of rejection because it shifts the impact back along the supply chain to before the costs of export have been incurred. This means that a greater range of options are available to avoid the amount lost by either rectifying the problem or otherwise using the affected fruit. Rejection overseas in an export market leaves only the options of fumigation, destruction or re-shipment, none of which are cheap.

Figure 2. An oribatid mite. Drawing courtesy of Landcare.

“real” pests, insects and mites, both those that actually damage fruit (e.g. leafrollers and greenhouse thrips) or lower production (e.g. six-spotted mite), and those “greeblies” that are not really associated with growing avocados but which end up contaminating fruit. Crop pests as well as contaminants can cause quarantine issues (e.g. leafrollers), but different control options are available against the two types.

Remember that quarantine issues occur towards the end of the supply chain when the affected fruit has incurred most of the considerable costs involved in getting to market, and so when rejection will have the greatest impact on industry profitability. The benefit of the AQIS preclearance programme is that it reduces

Up to harvest Before harvest the fruit is under the care of the growers, who have to struggle against the elements and whatever else gets thrown at them, to produce a bumper crop of quality fruit.

Unfortunately both productivity and pack-out rates for avocados are low in comparison to other fruit crops, giving an inconsistent and modest return. On a report card, many orchards would get the verdict “There is ample room for improvement”.

The overall ground rules for the industry have been set by the AIC with a clear view of maximising returns, and it is important that no-one in any part of the industry tries to shortcut these standards.

New Zealand’s distance from markets and production costs mean we must sell

IS PHOSPHONATE WORKING F If you are using phosphonate to control Phytophthora, you can now test the roots of your avocado trees to gauge its effectiveness. Developed in consultation 18

with the avocado industry, our new phosphonate analysis has been designed specifcally to meet the quality requirements of the New Zealand avocado grower.

d at harvest

Growers’ role The closer you are to harvest, the more important it becomes to consider carefully the Pre-harvest Interval (PHIs) of any sprays applied to ensure residues will not compromise supplying the

a change in the intended market.

It is also important to minimise any risk of contaminating the fruit. Before harvest the grower should ensure all areas where bins will be handled or held are clean and ready to use. If weed spraying is left to the last minute, it may well encourage fruit contamination rather than preventing it.

Figure 3. A rotary water-blaster showing jets.

Photo by D. Steven.

intended market(s). A crop that has “all-market access” ensures maximum flexibility, and so gives the most opportunities to gain top returns. Keep in touch with your packer or exporter regarding choice of sprays.

It is best practice to undertake a Quarantine Monitoring of fruit for leafrollers (LRs) seven days or less before the planned harvest date, since LRs are the pest most likely to cause a quarantine issue. Do at least the standard AvoGreen sample, more if there any particular concerns, but examine each fruit site for LR eggs as well as caterpillars. If a LR of either stage is found, contact your packer and exporter to work out the preferred treatment option, which may be a spray, special handling such as water-blasting, or

SIVTEE EXCSLPU HONA W PHO N NO TESTI G BLE AVAILA

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Packers’ role For smooth and efficient operation, the packer needs to know each line submitted and whether or not any issues are likely to arise, be they pests, blemish or residues.

The last thing wanted is a nasty surprise that turns a planned production schedule to custard.

Water-blasting is a powerful tool to remove things from the surface of fruit, be they insect or debris such as pollen, but it is not a magic wand. How a waterblaster is operated is critical to ensure the whole surface of each fruit is cleaned. For the USA, where water-blasting is part of the required procedures for market access agreed by the two governments, the machinery must be operated as specified. Where water-blasting is not mandatory, the packer must remember that any easing of operational conditions to improve throughput will lower the level of removal achieved. If operating

SEAL4297AVb

into the highest paying markets or market niches to be profitable. We need to strive to keep improving quality, and be innovative to minimise the costs involved in achieving that standard. We cannot be the lowest cost producers, but we can be the most efficient and profitable.

The most obvious aspects of fruit quality are those that affect eating, appearance, storage and shelf life, then come some less apparent but still measurable characteristics including the presence of any pesticide residues, and finally are any other features that encourage the consumer to buy, and to pay top dollar. Most of the last aspects are things relating to how the fruit was produced that give the buyer a feelgood factor because they believe they are supporting the ‘right’ approach from the view of the planet and sustainability.

Some growers still seem to believe they can ignore what the consumer wants and what they are prepared to pay for, and that they can do whatever they want.

To find out more, visit our website or call us on

07 858 2000

www.hill-laboratories.com 19

Avogreen technical continued conditions need to be changed, the settings actually used should be recorded.

Any use of water at a site creates a potential problem in that if the water is not properly managed and contained, a damp or wet environment results, giving rise to moulds and the aquatic insects such an environment attracts and breeds.

Condensation from coolstore operations can also create a wet environment giving rise to these problems.

Handling of fruit both before and after packing needs to be reviewed. Bins of avocados awaiting packing need to be held on a clear, clean area which is away or shielded from any overhead lights which can attract flying insects. Any potential source of contaminants such as damaged fruit or wet environments should be dealt with and if it cannot be removed, it must be well separated or screened from sound fruit. After packing, particularly after water-blasting, it is even more important that the packed fruit is protected from re-infestation by flying insects. All the effort you have put into pest removal can be undone at this stage.

Although water-blasters are a very useful tool, they are not 100 per cent effective in removing all pests or contaminants from fruit. It is critical that growers still play their part in reducing pests and preventing contamination in the field, and all other opportunities to prevent contamination at packing are exploited.

AQIS figures The provisional figures from the AQIS Pre-clearance Programme for the last export season (see the table) are from the samples submitted to the AsureQuality Laboratory for identification, not just what was found that caused a lot to be rejected. This data gives a better picture of exactly what is there on packed fruit intended for export.

A trend that has been apparent for several years is that relatively more contaminants and fewer pests are being found at inspection. The leafrollers, armoured scales and thrips, are pests affecting the crop and included in the spray programme, a total of 18 cases of the 72 cases identified. (None of the mites found were the pest species, sixspotted mite).

The biggest grouping of finds was the flies, the Diptera. Five different 20

families were represented, with two being associated with decaying matter (larvae of the Drosophilidae or vinegar flies feed in rotting fruit, while those of the Lauxaniidae are associated with rotting vegetation) while the other three families are all associated with aquatic or damp situations. Flies have been found much more commonly in the last three seasons.

The flies other than the Lauxaniidae were all found as adults; these Diptera do fly actively, but are small insects and not long-lived. Most were noted as alive when found. Taken together these facts indicate that they probably flew into the trays of fruit during or after packing.

The finds of two adult parasitic wasps, a live Staphylinid beetle, and the six different spiders all support the idea that infestation occurred at this time, after any water-blasting. Keeping the packing area free from any insects and protecting trays of packed fruit from re-infestation using screening or by moving it more rapidly into cool storage are surely worth investigation.

The other insects found were almost all as eggs or scales which are attached firmly to a surface, and so have some resistance to removal, even by a water-blaster. Mites have not been included in this discussion.

Conclusion Quarantine issues arise from infestation of fruit by both insect and mite pests of the avocado crop and also by contamination by other insects. Only those considered as crop pests can be readily targeted by growers using field measures – the leafrollers are by far the most important of this group. Applying sensible measures during handling fruit at harvest is also critical in both removing insects and mites and in preventing further infestation. However the spectrum of insects found during AQIS Pre-clearance inspections last season strongly suggests that contamination of trays of fruit during or after packing is occurring. This is an area where improvements could be made. As well, we may have to be smarter in how we use the key technique of water-blasting to avoid unwanted side effects while still removing most pests and contaminants.

Dr David Steven, IPM Research Ltd PO Box 36-012, Auckland 0748 AvoPest : 0508 286 7378 dsteven@ipmresearch.co.nz Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the author.

Table 1.

Data from samples found on avocado lines and sent by AQIS inspectors for identification during the 2010-11 export season. (Data supplied as provisional.)

Specimens found on avocados by AQIS 2010-11 Weed seed

1 black nightshade Solanum nigrum

Insects Unidentified 1 egg raft empty and dead Diptera flies 19 9 Lauxaniidae all eggs 4 Psychodidae moth flies, adults, live 3 Phoridae humpbacked flies, adults, live 1 Sciaridae fungus gnat, adult 2 Drosophilidae vinegar flies, adults, live Lepidoptera moths 14 12 leafrollers (LR) 8 lightbrown apple moth 1 stage unspecified, 7 egg rafts 3 brown-headed LR all caterpillars 1 black lyre LR caterpillar 2 Noctuidae 1 greasy cutworm caterpillar 1 eggs live Psocoptera bark lice 11 9 eggs, 2 adults Hemiptera scales 5 4 Diaspididae armoured scales, greedy and latania scale 1 Coccidae 1 soft scale, dead Hymenoptera parasitic wasps 2 2 parasitoids 1 Eucoilidae host = Drosophilidae 1 Proctotrupidae likely host = beetle larva Coleoptera beetles 2 1 Fullers rose weevil eggs dead 1 Staphylinidae adult live Thysanoptera thrips 1 1 greenhouse thrip Mites

10 1 oribatid mite 2 Acaridae mould mites 2 unidentified mites 2 Cheyletidae predator mites 2 Anystidae whirligig predator mites 1 Phytoseidae predator mite

Spiders

6 1 1 1 1 1 1

stealthy spider grey house spider jumping spider house hopper spider European harvestman spider Daddy long legs spider

Gypsum provides readily available calcium nutrient in pH neutral form and improves the structure of clay soils.

to improve your soil structure and drainage during the winter months

21

By AIC communications officer Midge Munro

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romotion 2010-2011 review The 2010-2011 season saw the continuation of our partnership with Horticulture Australia Ltd and Avocados Australia Ltd to deliver a promotional campaign in Australia during our summer export months.

Using the ‘Add an Avo’ campaign materials New Zealand growers and exporters invested in Australian promotion through the months November 2010 to February 2011 to the value of NZD206.80k. During this time 1.6m 5.5kg trays of Class 1 New Zealand avocados were exported to Australia.

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2010 Strategy The industry objective of the campaign is to maintain a balance between demand and supply. The overall marketing objective is to increase the average weight of purchase among light to medium users by instigating behavioural change and establishing a commitment to purchasing avocados from an occasional basis to everyday.

During 2009, AAL/HAL conducted research which evaluated a new creative direction for avocados moving into ry 2010. results, the also t on theoresearch d Based l u o r ugh targets light h h s t u new strategy specifically o o v Y a ubed users of avocados, aiming and ng cmedium st i r r i a. from being a versatile astfruit to kshift n pthe e c i ha chproduct ingredient is dis in the kitchen to an h t e v ’l l g i ally, Itindispensible our. a must-have. w f lav directed the ‘Add an eresearch This n c i t s fantaAvo’ brand to evolve and the vision for avocados to become a mother’s indispensible ally lead to the push for everyday consumption - thus ‘Add an Avo’ has become ‘Add an Avo m Everyday’. This stronger call o.ctooaction v a n also accompanied updated format of ddaan it awhich s advertising shows how avocados i v , eatingcan be used in a variety of useful, easy

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and everyday ways, in order to drive regular use. The advertising collateral was also designed to drive consumers to the avocado consumer website, where the focus is on demonstrating how easy it is to ‘Add an Avo Everyday’ through quick and simple recipes, snacks and meal ideas.

Australian Avocados full promotional activity directed by this new strategy was in the marketplace from July 2010.

The AIC-run campaign continued the use of this new strategy in face-to-face communication, online and magazine advertising and continued from the previous season the theme of summer eating.

Target audiences The primary target audience for the AIC campaign is ‘bustling families’.

This audience (mum) is deemed to be time poor but focused on doing the best for the family and because of all this is looking for ways to make looking after her family easier.

Media channels The AIC directed campaign reached 452,000 grocery buyers with children an average frequency of 1.24 times with magazine advertising, delivered 379,683 impressions through the online activity and distributed 8160 avocado samples and 10,000 avocado recipe flyers over two sampling events.

The Australian Avocados media mix used in 2010 has included television, both free-to-air and subscription; print advertising in prominent food and women’s magazines (Delicious, Donna Hay, Mother & Baby), and the internet.

The campaign had a strong online element, featuring sponsorships with three large publishers – Fairfax Digital, Yahoo!7 and News Digital. It focused on editorial content rather than display advertising.

The 2010 television activity has reached 1.1 million grocery buyers aged between 18 and 39; the magazine advertising reached 654,000 people an average of

3.5 times; and the online campaign had delivered 924 million impressions against a target of 922 million.

Sampling Sampling was a new activity added to the 2010-2011 AIC promotion schedule.

This face-to-face promotion was the number one priority channel (51% of promotional spend). Avocado tasting stands were set up at two locations where consumers got to try avocado, receive information about them and also give valuable feedback about the experience.

A total of 8160 avocado samples and 10,000 recipe flyers were distributed over the two tasting events. A branded sampling counter was created for these events and staff also wore branded caps t-shirts and aprons.

This new activity began with an appearance at the Brisbane Good Food & Wine Show (November 5, 6, 7). An ‘Add an Avo Everyday’ branded sampling station was set up during the show to distribute samples: avocado halves with zesty balsamic seasoning.

The reaction was positive with many consumers finding the recipe (used in the sample) exciting and very different to the traditional uses of avocado.

The general opinion on avocados was very positive with many consumers wanting a second sample and they were willing to wait for samples to be prepared, willing to purchase and also wanting further recipe ideas.

Four thousand samples were distributed over the three days. They went out as fast as they were made.

The second of these events was a set up in the Westfield Mall in Bondi, Sydney November 18-20. The three-day set-up distributed 4160 samples and 4800 recipe booklets to a demographic of 25y/o+ and a split of 50:50 male and female.

Comments from the staff on the stand were that they had people willing to pay and wanting to know where they could purchase the avocados.

Consumers loved the avocados and 23

Australian promotion continued

many commented that they wanted to use the Zesty Balsamic recipe that was being used to prepare the samples.

In 2010 Australian Avocados increased NRL sponsorship activity, placing product sampling teams at selected NRL games.

Trained promotional staff not only distributed product but also spoke to NRL fans on a one-on-one basis, passing on key messages about the diverse uses of avocados.

To reach avocados’ key audience of mothers with infants, the avocados marketing campaign had a stall at the Pregnancy, Babies & Children’s Expo held in Melbourne.

The avocado stall provided a one-onone interaction directly with avocados’ target market and offered different avocado samples for different key age groups e.g. avocado mash for babies.

The expo was used to communicate the key message that avocados are the perfect first food.

Digital Digital was the second priority channel (30% of promotional spend).

The campaign message was integrated within relevant lifestyle and family environments online where mums actively seek information.

The role of digital in this campaign was to lead the target audience to recipe ideas on the addanavo.com website with messages of easy summer meals and outdoor entertaining.

Online activity undertaken this season was sponsorship of the BBQ and Summer recipe collections on Taste.com.au. In addition there was a dedicated avocado section on the site and flash avocado banners were included in two e-newsletters being broadcast to the Taste.com.au members.

Web adverts were also used and targeted at users on the News Digital Network searching and looking at sites to do with women’s lifestyle topics and recipes. A number of different web advertisements were created using the ‘Add an Avo’ branding. Messages of easy summer meals and outdoor entertaining were used to draw people to the addanavo.com website for more meal ideas 24

Overall, using the Taste.com.au site and advertisements served over the News Digital Network 379,683 impression were achieved (82,983 unique impressions) with a CTR of 0.1%.

The December 2010 Taste e-newsletter was sent to 151,247 members which achieved 43,076 unique views and open rate of 28%, similarly the January e-newsletter was sent to 153,850 members and achieved 42,766 unique views and an open rate of 28%.

Australian Avocados 2010 online strategy targeted women’s lifestyle and family websites such as kidspot.com.au and cuisine.com.au, sites where primary grocery buyers with children actively seek information on food. These sites were also be used to drive traffic to the avocados’ website as was search engine marketing.

Website The addanavo.com website also underwent a summer themed transformation as was implemented in the 2009-2010 season.

The 2010 year has seen some fantastic results for the Australian Avocados website. Most impressively the site has achieved a large increase in traffic for the period, reaching more than 153,379 visitors compared to 77,000 in 2009.

Website reports show that the increase in traffic has been significantly impacted by search traffic, with close to 30,000 different keywords leading people to the website.

The increase in traffic navigating around the avocados website demonstrates the relevance of content.

Over the past three years the site has maintained the same content strategy, focusing growth on the most popular areas: recipes, ‘how to grow’ and nutritional information.

The addanavo.com website received 60,384 visits during the AIC campaign period, a 187% increase over the 20092010 campaign period. The summer recipe category was viewed 2435 times, a 256% increase over the 2009-2010 campaign period.

RIPE eNewsletter was sent to 9394 website members in November; 11,337 in December; 11,273 in January; and 11,125 in February with an average

click through to the website rate of 28% across all three sends. More than 1700 people signed up to the RIPE eNewsletter from November to December.

Print Two magazine appearances were scheduled for the AIC promotion period - the decline in spend in this area reflects the lower volumes for the season but also the shift in favour of the tasting events.

The print campaign ran in magazines used the latest layout developed for the ‘Add an Avo Everyday’ campaign. The existing light bulb shape was used with the message “Quick ideas for summer meals”. This was accompanied by three quick and easy ideas for what to do with avocado - mashing into egg for a sandwich, slicing and placing on a pizza, and cubing to stir through cooked pasta.

A full page space was taken in Australian Good Taste and another in Super Food Ideas, both top selling publications with a high reach to our target audience of ‘bustling families’.

The Australian Avocados promotion programme took advantage of creative executions that include more everyday recipe ideas. This allowed them to efficiently place page advertising while investing in a higher level of television activity without sacrificing reach in the magazine environment. To that end, magazine activity was seen by 74% of the target at a frequency of 3.5 times.

Other activities directed by HAL/AAL in 2010 Television The 2010 focus of the media activity reflects the move towards an everyday usage message, building on the versatility platform built from the ‘Add an Avo’ campaigns.

This shift manifests itself most clearly in the television activity which has seen the avocado marketing program make a larger commitment to pay TV and, more specifically to the Lifestyle Network.

The Lifestyle Network created three 45 second interstitials (short ads that run between programs promoting other

programs on the network) utilising the talent of Rachael and Kim from the program 4 Ingredients to drive home the everyday possibilities for avocados.

The TV activity saw avocados in market from May 2010, and through to June 2011 and engaged 585,000 grocery buyers with children, an estimated 12 times in the period.

PR - Add an Avo to Footy Australian Avocados partnered with individual NRL clubs to run a recipe competition hosted on a custom-built ‘I ♥ Footy’ microsite at avocados.org.au The competition offered footy fans the opportunity to win Grand Final tickets and a signed jersey of the winning team.

Leading up to the competition, magazine, newspaper and online food editors received information on why avocados are the perfect partner of half time entertaining to help them plan Footy Final features.

Foodservice Programme While they are loved by consumers, avocados have not been widely adopted

Breakdown of AIC spend allocation

by chefs and consequently have limited visibility on restaurant menus. This gap presents a potent opportunity, and Australian Avocados has embarked on a program to engage with the food service sector (restaurants, cafés, clubs, hotels, pubs) to increase the use of avocado on their menus.

Avocados in Early Childhood Initiative Early childhood teachers and carers are key influencers in child education settings. Using the expertise of two noted nutrition educators, Shelley Woodrow and Nadine McCrea (each with more than 20 years experience in school or early childhood education), an avocado-focused education resource was developed with the preliminary title of ‘Eating my colourful plant-foods’.

Education of Fitness Professionals Australian Avocados has partnered with the Australian apple + banana industry to develop a pilot education program targeting 200 fitness professionals on the

benefits of eating + recommending the consumption of apples, avocados and bananas.

Investment and consumption Australian growers and HAL have invested heavily in developing the Australian market - spending AUD6m during the last four years on research, creative development and the implementation of a variety of promotional activities. During this same period, NZ growers and exporters have invested NZD1.03m implementing Avocados Australia material during our summer window.

During the last seven years consumption per capita in Australia has increased by more than a 1kg to 2.74kp per person with an expected rise to 3.3kg per person in the 20132014 season.

Thanks to Antony Allen CEO of Avocados Australia Ltd for providing the information on the 2010 Australian Avocados campaign.

Breakdown of consumption Year Production 2003-04 28,196 2004-05 31,960 2005-06 34,515 2006-07 36,359 2007-08 44,487 2008-09 46,148 2009-10 49,500 2010-11 est 49,500 2011-12 est 55,000 2012-13 est 60,000 2013-14 est 64,000

Imports 5,024 5,615 12,988 5,030 10,930 6,942 10,609 8,800 15,000 10,000 16,000

Exports 419 510 600 900 1,000 1,200 1,500 1,500 1,700 1,900 2,100

Consumption 32,801 37,065 46,903 40,489 54,417 51,890 58,609 56,800 68,300 68,100 77,900

Population (kg/person) 20,250,000 1.62 20,500,000 1.81 20,650,000 2.27 20,900,000 1.94 21,000,000 2.59 21,200,000 2.45 21,400,000 2.74 21,600,000 2.63 21,800,000 3.13 23,000,000 2.96 23,600,000 3.30

Source: ABS, HAL, AAL

25

Does your packshed go the extra mile?

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are into Avo’s, boots and all For all your avocado picking, packing and management needs John Emett - Avocado Client Service Manager

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26

07 578 9107 0274 769 087 john.emett@dms4kiwi.co.nz

AIC Technical Manager

Henry Pak

hpak@nzavocados.co.nz

Update on AIC Research Projects Project Name: Pruning Trial Project start: 2011 Project completion: 2016 Objective: To investigate how different pruning strategies might lessen the impact of irregular bearing Summary: This is a significant pruning trial to assess the viability of defined pruning methods to ameliorate irregular bearing.

This is a collaborative project between growers, pruning contractors, consultants, scientists including John Leonardi. AAL and Grant Thorp, Plant and Food and AIC. The results will be reported to the ARC project setout below.

Recent activity: In consultation with the group, pruning treatment specifications have been finalised, pruning contractor meetings have agreed costs and growers were allocated to contractors. A participating grower meeting was held to allow growers to meet other growers in the trial, the trial pruning overseer, Matt Leamy, and the pruning contractors. A successful start with the first autumn pruning treatments applied May 2011.

John Leonardi attended the first round of the trial.

Milestones: • Regular reporting will update growers of the interim findings. A field day on pruning will be held in November 2011.

• The trial will be reported on at the two Grower Forums in August 2011.

• A noted decrease in yield differences between ‘on’ and ‘off ’ years and an overall increase in industry yield where pruning is used.

Project Name: Avocado Research Consortium (ARC): Alternative Bearing Project start: 2011 Project completion: 2014 Objective: An international project to fund research through a global collaboration of avocado scientists to provide options to growers to mitigate irregular bearing.

Summary: This is an international collaboration between Australia, California, New Zealand and Mexico. Israel had been part of the consortium but pulled out in April. Each country has entered into an MOU to contribute funding to a team of international researchers to address the issue of irregular bearing.

Recent activity: An initial Request for Proposal (RFP) was issued which required further clarity and better grower engagement within the research. A revised RFP is due in June.

Project Name: Maximum Residue Level (MRL) Project Project start: 2010 Project completion: 2012 Objective: To support MRLs being set by 6 NZ avocado markets in SE Asia to better enable these export markets to be developed.

Summary: Henry Pak and Dave Lunn (MAF) will visit Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore in June to: 1) Clarify the legislative requirements in force in each of these countries; 2) Provide information on the level of active enforcement; 3) Identify options for establishing import tolerances.

Dave Lunn approached key personnel from the relevant countries at recent CODEX meeting and had a positive response to the project. In the interim the EMS was amended for 2011-12 to be silent on the active ingredients for which an MRL has not been specifically set by a market.

Milestones: Report of outcomes and recommendations of action required to allow MRL’s to be set will be reported to industry in August.

The setting of MRL’s is a government to government negotiation and the AIC is unable to dictate but the gaps are to be identified and recommendations made. The goal is to have 3 markets accept equivalency of NZ MRLs by May 2012 and an expected date for the other 3.

Project Name: Read Your Trees Project start: 2008 Project completion: 2011 Objective: To reduce avocado reliance on prescriptive tree management Summary: Funding from AIC and MAF Sustainable Farming Fund (SFF) to develop a guide for growers to ‘read’ the state of their trees and allow more informed decision making on crop management. This is a collaborative project between AIC and industry.

Recent activity: The guide has been finalised and will be published at the two Grower Forums in August. The process to develop the guide has been undertaken with much discussion and feedback between the parties.

Project Name: Dry matter regional monitoring Project start: 2002 Project completion: Ongoing Objective: To monitor fruit dry matter accumulation in the three major avocado growing regions to indicate the earliest possible time harvest maturity is reached Summary: This is an ongoing project to determine the earliest time that Hass fruit are likely to reach maturity in the three main growing regions. The key purpose is to deter supply of immature early season fruit on the local market.

Recent activity: The programme has been extended to include autumn set. The coming season’s monthly dry matter monitoring has commenced and the results posted on the web.

This reporting helps discourage low maturity fruit going to the local market and associated quality problems. AIC will report on the number of hits on this part of the website in October 2011 to assess the value add to the grower.

Baseline for comparison was 1919 hits in 2010, peaking at 721 in June 2010.

Continued over...

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Update on AIC Research Programmes Continued

Project Name: Early Maturity Project start: 2010 Project completion: 2012 Objective: To investigate early maturity quality issues in relation to fruit size Summary: Maturity related quality problems were reported at out-turn in 2009 despite the fruit having passed the industry independent maturity tests. Further evidence suggested that the problem was most prevalent in small fruit. Research was initiated into stage of seed coat development as an additional measure of maturity to reduce reliance on dry matter content as the sole indicator of maturity.

Recent activity: Experiments from the 2010 season have been completed, the data evaluated and results reported to the QSC in March 2011 showed that seed coat maturity may be a useful adjuvant to dry matter as an indicator of fruit maturity. Further research is required to determine the percentage of samples that should have medium seed coats to indicate fruit has reached an acceptable maturity. Seed coat maturity monitoring for this season has commenced with the first sample round collected.

Project Name: Chemical flower thinning Project start: 2007 Project completion: 2011 Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of chemical flower thinning agents (ethylene promoters) to reduce initial fruit set.

Summary: Chemical flower thinning has been investigated as an alternative to flower pruning reduce yields in ‘on’ years, and limiting draw down on storage reserves to allow a greater return crop the following season. Results to date show yield reductions of up to 40% of initial fruit set compared with untreated controls.

Recent activity: Over the previous four years field trials have been restricted to treating individual branches. This year whole trees were treated. Results showed that 2 weeks after treatment was applied there was a marked reduction in fruitlets on the treated trees compared to the untreated control. There were no detectable residues on the sample of mature fruit collected Jan 2011. In 28

Nov 2010 samples of fruit were collected from the field and placed into a storage trial to investigate the effect of treatments on storage quality. These results will be analysed and reported by August 2011.

Project Name: Phytosanitary Project start: 2008 Project completion: 2012 Objective: To address phytosanitary market access issues Summary: Continued access of fruit into the USA is reliant on the use of high pressure water blasting of fruit to remove egg-rafts and larvae of light brown apple moth.

Experiments have been done to ensure that fruit quality is not compromised in the process.

Recent activity: A report has been completed indicating that waterblasting does not impact negatively on fruit quality and there are no significant differences in terms of fruit quality between the two main types of water blaster in use in the industry.

An abstract has been submitted on this research to the world avocado congress.

Further work has been done on the use of thiabenzidole fungicide and oil for post-harvest rot control on fruit destined for the USA. Initial results on mid-season fruit were promising. The trial was repeated and the results will be analysed and reported by June 2011.

Project Name: Extending the Marketing Window Project start: 2008 Project completion: 2011 Objective: To extend storage life enabling access to more distant markets and more effective inventory management Summary: Dynamic controlled atmosphere (DCA) storage has the potential to considerably extend the storage life of avocados. Trials have been undertaken to investigate the suitability of this technology for avocados.

Recent activity: DCA trials: Fruit were harvested during January 2011 and allocated to 4 storage modes: DCA, programmed DCA, CA and air. Preliminary conclusions are: • A programmed DCA mode without sensors can be used to substitute for a

DCA mode using sensors. However, only orchards of similar characteristics and high quality should be chosen for DCA storage.

• The benefits of DCA storage are achievable with late season fruit but the differences between CA and DCA storage are not as pronounced as with early and mid season fruit, probably because the days to ripen are shorter.

• A method of predicting susceptibility to O2 injury, should be developed to avoid any risk of low O2 injury when using a programmed DCA storage mode.

Colour as a marker for quality: A trial to investigate the influence of fruit coloration on ripe fruit quality found that the greater the extent of coloration the greater the detrimental impact on quality. Further research was requested by the Quality Standards Committee (QSC) and a second trial was done in December 2010. Results were presented at the March 2011 QSC who agreed the results indicated that the current allowance for colour in the grade standards was appropriate.

Project Name: High Health Scheme Project start: 2008 Project completion: ongoing Objective: To develop a high health scheme for avocados for use in avocado nurseries to promote tree health and ensure diseasefree planting material is available for growers.

Summary: A key requirement of a high-health scheme is to ensure that planting material released to the industry is free of any pests or diseases, especially those that might pose a market access issue.

A draft high health scheme is currently being evaluated and reviewed with the participation of accredited nurseries.

Recent activity: A meeting was held in December 2010 with avocado nurseries to discuss the draft scheme and audit of the programme. Audits have been delayed until the scheme has been revised.

The plant health standard will also include a minimum standard for avocado plants.

There have been significant concerns around the establishment of new plants, especially in Northland.

Project Name: Germplasm – Rootstock trial Project start: 2009 Project completion: 2017 Objective: To evaluate the performance of newly imported rootstocks and fruiting cultivars under New Zealand conditions.

Summary: A long-term trial to assess the performance of eight rootstocks and three fruiting cultivars under NZ conditions.

These imported materials were selected for superior performance based on their tolerance to phytophthora and improved yield characteristics. They will be compared with industry standards such as Duke 7 and Zutano. The trials are replicated across three growing regions.

Recent activity: The Whangarei cultivar and rootstock trial was planted out in April 2011. The Far North block will be planted out in early June. The Te Puke block will be planted in late spring 2011.

Project Name: Germplasm – Geneblocks Project start: 1999 Project completion: Ongoing Objective: To maintain in good health a collection of most of the commercial avocado cultivars present in New Zealand.

Summary: A requirement of Plant Variety Right (PVR) holders is to maintain and assess five trees of each PVR protected material under NZ conditions.

Recent activity: The AIC has completed and reported last season’s measurements for PVR purposes on the Dusa and Bounty trees and the PVR office updated. They will be visiting in July to review this year’s measurements and give guidance on which measurements to make going forward into next season Project Name: Germplasm – Importation of New Cultivars Project start: 2002 Project completion: ongoing Objective: To manage the importation and commercialisation of new avocado cultivars of commercial importance to New Zealand.

Summary: AIC has obligations under the Master Licence agreements to report annually on

parameters that would be used to define storage and maturity.

Recent activity: Lamb Hass fruit has been harvested and assessed after storage but not yet evaluated.

There have been reports of a number of clonal trees which have ‘fallen’ over with the tops on the ground but the roots still firmly in the ground during the last strong winds in the Far North. It appears that the weak point in these plants is in the stems (trunks) rather than the roots with the trees not blowing out of the ground. These trees still appear in a good state of health.

Preliminary fruit quality report on Reed was presented at the Quality Standard meeting March 2011 and showed significant quality issues after fruit had been coolstored for 28 days storage at 7 degrees. The third set of storage assessments have been completed for the Reed maturity trial for this season and the results will be included in an article for the next Avoscene. Trials will continue on Reed at different temperatures and using a range of maturities. Eight, dry matter assessments for Maluma, and GEM from the Te Puke geneblock have been analysed and the programme is now completed for 2010-2011 season.

Project Name: Germplasm – Rootstock Evaluation (Mangawhai) Project start: 2009 Project completion: Ongoing Objective: To evaluate clonal rootstocks, Dusa, Bounty, Duke 7 and fruiting cultivar Maluma Hass.

Summary: This is a grower trial to evaluate the performance of Maluma on Dusa and Bounty rootstocks compared to Duke 7 and Zutano.

Recent activity: Twice yearly assessment of tree growth and performance from 2009 onwards.

Last assessment conducted in late March 2011 and report written.

Project Name: SFF Reduction of Cu Project start: 2006 Project completion: 2011 Objective: To facilitate registration of alternatives to copper fungicides for pre-harvest rot control.

Summary: The avocado industry is very heavily reliant

on the use of copper fungicides for postharvest rot control. Excessive use of coppers leads to an accumulation of copper in the soil. Soil copper loadings could be reduced if suitable alternatives to copper fungicides were available.

Recent activity: Recent SFF funded trials undertaken by Plant and Food indicated that there are currently two alternatives to the use of copper fungicides. Of these one is a generic compound with no one individual company interested in pursuing registration without additional support.

Project Name: New Chemistry Project start: 2011 Project completion: 2013 Objective: To investigate simpler options for registering new chemistry for pest control on minor crops.

Summary: Avocados are considered a minor crop by most agrichemical companies as our volumes do not justify the development costs required for registration of chemicals on avocado only.

SFF funding will be used to assist the group in developing and refining current policy for registration to make it more efficient, less costly and more achievable to small industry groups.

Project Name: Plant Growth Regulators Project start: 2010 Project completion: 2012 Objective: To investigate the effect of ‘Sunny’ a plant growth regulator to improve tree performance in the ‘off’ year under NZ conditions Summary: A number of options are available for growers to manage trees in an ‘on’ year.

Management of trees in an ‘off year is more problematic, especially the excess vegetative growth which accompanies a lack of crop.

The use of plant growth regulates to control this excess vigour in an ‘off’ year is being investigated.

Recent activity: A study was planned for this past season to evaluate use of uniconazole to control vegetative vigour in off-season trees with the involvement of the NZ distributor Grochem.

As no suitable orchards were found during this period, trial had to be postponed until spring 2011.

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By AIC laboratory manager Toni Elmsly

telmsly@nzavocado.co.nz

Pruning trial commences Cost of irregular bearing Irregular bearing severely constrains the economic potential of the avocado sector with direct losses exceeding $110m since 2004 with further losses through reduced market growth.

Exporters are hampered in their ability to extract maximum value from the product as they are not able to consistently deliver the desired volumes to established high value customers.

Hass avocados, which account for approximately 95% of commercial avocado orchards in New Zealand, are extremely prone to irregular bearing.

This occurs when trees flower heavily and set a large crop in one season at the expense of a return crop in the following season. Irregular bearing may be triggered by adverse climatic events or management practices (e.g. extended harvest windows). The physiological basis for onset of irregular bearing is not well understood and once triggered it takes several growing cycles and significant management inputs to recover consistent production.

Irregular bearing creates financial difficulties for the avocado industry in four major ways: 1: Lost production in the ‘off’ years over the last 6 seasons has resulted in a cumulative FOB value loss of $65m.

2: The inconsistent supply has constrained exporters’ market development plans with increased spot marketing at the expense of building a value franchise with the customer, resulting in an estimated diminished market return in the ‘on’ years of $45m.

3: The inconsistent returns constrain new investment in the avocado industry as evidenced by reduced plantings (350450 ha/annum prior to 2006 declining to 100 ha/annum in 2010) further constraining industry growth.

4: Adverse impacts on the economic viability of value added processing operations from limited fruit supply.

Irregular supply is a disincentive to investment in new infrastructure to support and optimize supply chains.

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In the last two and a half years the AIC technical team has been engaging with growers discussing their pruning strategies.

It became apparent that many growers were using different pruning strategies and they seemed to be achieving good results (more consistent cropping, easier to manage trees) compared to what they were previously getting. Nevertheless, to quantify the actual benefit that different pruning strategies might have, a scientific trial needed to be developed. Considering this, the AIC has initiated a process that over the last 12 months has led to the development of a significant pruning trial. This has been a cooperative effort involving pruning contractors, growers, consultants and scientists.

As was mentioned in the “Flower pruning survey results” article (September 2010 Avoscene) the development of this trial was initiated from a huge interest from growers, contractors and researchers that responded to the survey. This interest led to a series of meetings in which more than 45 people from different regions participated at different stages in the trial’s development. As a result, the whole concept of this trial has been a cooperative effort in which 12 growers, 7 pruning contractors, 2 external scientists and the AIC technical team have all been involved. In this sense, the trial has had the benefit of the participation of both scientific experts in pruning systems and canopy architecture of avocados: Dr John Leonardi (Australian researcher) and Grant Thorp (Plant and Food Research). In addition, the trial has also been benefited by the active participation of many of the industry’s leading pruning contractors, and by the expertise of an experienced arborculturist, Matt Leamy. Through this process a methodology has been developed that would lead to appropriate pruning strategies that could deliver consistent export fruit quality, high yields and reduce harvest costs.

The focus of the trial will be to collate data on the economic benefits that accrue

from pruning. This extends beyond return yield as pruning reduces canopy density thereby improving spray penetration into the canopy and this should lead to an increased efficacy of pesticides with a concomitant increase in export pack-outs.

Structural pruning treatments can lead to significant lowering of harvest costs by reducing the height of the tree.

Quantifying the extent to which these benefits might outweigh the cost in terms of short-term lost production is a key objective of the trial.

Twelve orchards are involved in the trial: nine in the Bay of Plenty, two in Whangarei and one in the Far North.

These have been grouped into three age categories. The first group includes trees which are six years or younger (six orchards), the second includes trees which are seven to twelve years old (five orchards) and the last group includes trees which are thirteen plus years (one orchard).Two pruning timings will be compared. The first timing is in autumn followed by a second timing in spring.

For the young and medium aged trees there are five treatments. The treatments consist of two pruning severities (light and moderate) that will be repeated in spring and autumn, and a control unpruned tree treatment. Each treatment will be applied to five trees within each orchard, requiring twentyfive trees in total from each property.

For the thirteen or more year old tree orchard, there are three treatments.

The treatments consist of two pruning severities; staghorning and the use of a nurse branch that will be repeated in autumn and spring and a control unpruned treatment. Each treatment will be applied to five trees within each orchard, requiring twenty-five trees in total.

The treatments were designed in order to mainly establish whether there are significant differences between combinations of different timing of pruning and pruning severity. The treatments have been determined through a consultation process that has involved all the participating pruning contractors and scientists and the arborculturist.

Alvaro Vidiella

AIC scientist

alvaro.vidiella@nzavocado.co.nz

The pruning trial has been developed as a cooperative effort involving pruning contractors, growers, consultants and scientists.

Treatment description 1.Control: Unpruned 2.Light Prune: Up to 5% removed from the top of tree (directed towards NE quadrant) and up to 10% from side of the tree (2-3 limbs). This will be assessed for water shoots six months later and a light maintenance prune will be repeated on an annual basis.

3.Moderate Prune: Up to 20% removed from the top of tree (directed towards NE quadrant) and up to 20% from the side of the tree. No more than 35% of the tree will be removed in total. This will be followed up in the second year with a light maintenance prune to control regrowth.

Tree structure and canopy density will be assessed after three years and either a light prune or a moderate prune applied at that time.

4.Remedial Pruning A. Staghorning: This procedure involves cutting the trees back to a stump above the graft union (i.e. 1m above the graft union) and allowing them to regrow B. Nurse branches: This procedure involves stag horning but leaving 20-30% of lower limbs as a nurse branch to support root regrowth i.e.; if tree has six major limbs

Tree age ≤6 7-12 ≥ 13

AIC technical assistant Bart Hofstee and Avocados Australia Ltd’s Dr John Leonardi.

The AIC was very fortunate to have John here for the start of this five year trial.

then cut back leaving two as nurse limbs.

In both procedures the regrowth will be assessed at six months.

General considerations for pruning treatments • All cuts are to be made back to the trunk collar to reduce regrowth and aide callusing and healing.

• Cuts are to be made on an angle to avoid water retention and possible rotting/infection at the pruning site.

• In selecting material for pruning preference will be given to removing crossover branches, internal branches, water shoots and branches with dead tips.

A range of measurements are being collected which will include yield data, pruning and harvesting costs, packout figures and spray costs. Baseline assessments will also be performed including previous cropping history and harvesting costs, overall tree health, soil and leaf results, orchard position, temperature and rainfall data.

The following outcomes are anticipated from the trial: • Determine the criteria to decide the best timing for pruning.

• Determine the criteria to decide the adequate severity of pruning.

• Allow for more effective marketing programmes to be implemented as exporters have more consistent supply of fruit.

• Improve OGR and maximise the return on grower’s investment.

• Help to achieve the industry goal of 12 million trays with an industry value of $250 million by 2015.

There will be a presentation on the pruning trial at the grower forum session which will precede the AGM in August.

This will be followed by a series of field days which will begin in November 2011 after the spring treatments have been applied to the trees.

We are more than interested in knowing about your pruning experience and knowledge. If you are willing to share it with us, you may send us an email (tonielmsly@nzavocado.co.nz).

You may want us to know what your pruning strategy has been based on and what your actual results have been. This is being a collectively developed trial and we know that your experience and knowledge can be an asset to the trial.

Table 1. Pruning trial treatments. See explanation above.

Autumn

Spring

Light pruning (≤ 15%)

Moderate pruning (≤ 35%)

Light pruning (≤ 15%)

Moderate pruning (≤ 35%)

Nurse branch

Staghorning

Nurse branch

Staghorning

Control Unpruned tree

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Growers’ Comment By Natasha Mitchell

Trial addresses irregular b Irregular bearing is one of the most challenging issues affecting the New Zealand avocado industry.

Katikati orchardist Mike Dillan says pruning has reinvigorated his trees.

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A number of growers believe tree pruning could be the answer and now the Avocado Industry Council is commencing a five-year research project to test this.

AIC technical manager Dr Henry Pak says the Bay of Plenty region is the worst affected by the problem, with the majority of orchards experiencing some form of irregular or biennial bearing to varying degrees. He says most orchards would have a moderate to heavy crop one year and a light to moderate crop the next.

Grower and AGA representative Kim Crocker has a small home orchard in Omokoroa and a 10 hectare block north of Katikati with trees more than 20 years old, purchased in 2003. Its biennial bearing cycle meant volumes went from 20,000 trays one year to none the next to 16,000 the year after, despite an intensive regime of fertilising and injecting trees.

“For a grower it’s really tough when that happens,” says Kim. “Sure, you haven’t got any picking costs (when there is no crop) but you’re still spraying, fertilising and injecting.”

He decided to experiment on his home block by stopping blanket injecting trees and only injecting on an as-needed basis, applying fertiliser as the trees needed it, and pruning.

“It was like black and white. The trees went from looking thin and stressed to green and strong,” says Kim. So he started pruning the 10ha block too. Production figures for the last four years have been 3000 trays (lower due to a heavy initial pruning), 9000 trays, and 10,000 trays the last two years. Next year he expects approximately 20,000 trays and will know over the next couple of months what flowering for the following season is looking like.

“Having 9000 or 10,000 trays is much easier to handle than having 20,000 trays one year then none the next.”

Katikati growers John and Cindy Cotterell have six hectares of avocados. Their trees are a mixture of ages, ranging from one year to more than 30 years old, but most are 18-19 years old.

They have experienced irregular bearing on their orchard too, including having no crop for two years in a row.

“Our leaf and soil results were in the optimal range all the time and we still didn’t set a crop,” says John.

“It was pretty hard to manage. I had to get a day job, so I went back to building.”

Two years ago John began “serious” pruning, although he had experimented and tried flower pruning before then.

“Pruning seems to reinvigorate the trees, which is a good thing. With structural pruning, because you’re changing the leaf or branch ratio to roots, they seem to have more vigour and set fruit better.

“Doing the basic things right at the right time; that’s the biggest part of managing avocados or anything growing.

r bearing issue But at the end of the day, the climate or weather has the final say on whether you get a crop or not.”

He says pruning reduces picking costs, which are the biggest on-orchard cost.

John thinks the AIC trial is a good idea.

“I hope in the end we will have a prescription to say ‘if your trees have got this problem, you should cut here’ and also the timing. It’s all about getting the wood so it will flower the following year.”

Ngai Tukairangi Trust general manager Colin Jenkins has overseen the trust’s avocado operations at Matapihi for more than two decades. The trust used to have 11 hectares of avocados but now only has 2.6ha of 15 year old trees.

Colin says the trust orchards have experienced a mild form of irregular bearing but not as serious as other orchards in the BOP. He believes having a good frost-free location, doing the basics well, and pruning are keys to success. Trees are pruned annually and fruit is also harvested as soon as it reaches export clearance.

“We think that gives trees a real chance to carry the following year’s crop and not put so much stress on the trees,” says Colin.

“Part of pruning is for height reduction but also removal of very strong limbs going straight up. Our aim is to grow fruit, not lots of branches and leaves.

“It’s definitely helped the trees. It’s opened them up and let light in and air movement in. It makes it easier for pickers and reducing the tree heights helps when spraying.”

Tree thinning is important too, as it also allows more light into the orchard.

Colin has employed contractors to carry out flower pruning in the past as a way to regulate crop in an ‘on’ year.

The aim of the AIC’s pruning trial is to test which is the most effective way to prune avocado trees in an attempt to minimise the irregular bearing effect.

Omokoroa orchardist and trial participant Maria Watchorn says she and her husband Andrew agreed to their orchard being part of the trial because they think it is important for the future economic success of the industry. It is also a good way of increasing her knowledge.

The Watchorns have a four hectare orchard with trees ranging from five to 13

years old. They have experienced fluctuating crop volumes in alternate years but haven’t to date failed to crop completely. However because the orchard is still coming into full production, these fluctuations haven’t been a major concern.

They have flower pruned in the past to reduce tree stress, thus avoiding a heavy crop load and helping rejuvenating the trees for the coming season so new, healthy flowering wood can be produced. The orchard has had some light pruning work completed (not on the trial trees) to let light into the permanent trees, but thinning has not taken place yet.

Maria admits she is ‘not 100 per cent convinced’ hard pruning will stop irregular bearing, so will be interested to see the results of the trial comparing light and moderate pruning methods.

“I believe 5 to 10 per cent topping and letting light in and hollowing out is a good idea to manage tree height and allow sprays to be more effective. But when something’s working and you’re fruiting every year, it’s very hard to change what you’re doing. I believe there will be some big advantages from pruning but whether it will stop irregular bearing, I don’t know. I’ve got a feeling irregular bearing is something to do with weather.”

She believes temperature and climatic changes and frost play an important part in avocado trees experiencing irregular bearing.

The Watchorns have a fully automated irrigation and frost protection system in their orchard to reduce frost damage to flowering fruit buds.

“I’m also a stickler for ongoing good management practices such as applying fertilisers, spraying and injecting.”

With trees at five to six years old, Peter van Lierop and Lisa Edmond’s Te Puna orchard is one of the youngest in the trial so no pruning has previously been carried out there. She is backing the trial because she knows irregular bearing is such a problem in the Bay of Plenty and she understands the benefits pruning can have in terms of increased yields and reduced costs.

Kim Crocker explains pruning is all about balancing the tree’s above-ground growth with its root structure.

“I think pruning is the answer to irregular bearing or at least part of the

answer. I think the AIC trial is a good thing but I think we should also send out a questionnaire to all growers. The more information we have got about a subject, the easier it is to attack it,” says Kim. “In a survey on the www.avocadogrowers. org.nz website 16 per cent of growers fell into the never pruned category, 46 per cent into the new to pruning category and 38 per cent were in the experienced category. Most growers I meet are actually doing something to remedy the problem – most are trying pruning. But for a lot of growers it’s a difficult thing because they think it’s expensive.

“The first time growers prune may seem expensive but once you get the trees structurally the way you want them, it gets less expensive. I think our first prune cost in the region of $12 per tree and we only spent $175 in total on our last prune.”

Grower and pruning contractor Michael Dillon says while more adventurous growers might be happy to just ‘give it a go’, a lot of people are unsure whether to prune or not, when and how much. He thinks the AIC trial will be really interesting and valuable for the industry.

Although Michael has not experienced problems with biennial bearing on his owned or leased block, he prunes the trees to invigorate them and improve picking access.

“It’s definitely made improvements in the health of our trees.”

Other benefits include improved spray penetration and less wind damage, which both lead to higher export pack-out rates.

“To me the biggest thing is: give it a go.

I’ve never seen a tree die from pruning but I’ve seen trees die that haven’t been pruned.

“When trees get too tall, the canopy is out of proportion to the root zone.

Also big centres store a lot of nitrogen.

If you cut that out, it goes into the leaves and regrowth.”

While pruning has a cost, Michael says it is also a way for growers to make more money because it can help them produce more and better quality fruit.

“You’ve only got to look at other fruit crops. They all prune their trees for production. It’s about quality fruiting wood and light interception. We’ve been a bit slow on the uptake, though it’s probably more of a case that we don’t know.”

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Industry News Avocado Growers’ Association AGM and Grower Forum. 12 August AGM Dinner: A chance to socialise with other growers and speak to your Board reps. 11 August 6:30pm predinner drinks; 7pm dinner, Killer Prawn, Whangarei. If you would like to attend the AGM dinner, please RSVP to Edwina by July 29, email edwina@ nzavocado.co.nz or phone 0800 AVOCADO (0800 286 2236). Dinner at own cost, $56pp.

Grower Forum: 12 August 10am12.30pm, featuring presentations and discussions with the AIC team and Board on new varieties, pruning, AvoGreen, and communications. NZRC room level 2 Toll Stadium, Okara Drive, Whangarei.

Light lunch provided, please RSVP your attendance to the Grower Forum to Edwina by July 15.

AGA Annual General Meeting 12 August 1:30-4:30pm, NZRC room level 2 Toll Stadium, Okara Drive, Whangarei.

Bay of Plenty Grower Forum 17 August 9am-12.30pm, featuring presentations and discussions with the AIC team and Board on new varieties, pruning, AvoGreen, and communications. Mills Reef Winery, Moffat Road, Bethlehem.

Light lunch provided, please RSVP your attendance to the BOP Grower Forum to Jo by July 15, email jnunn@ nzavocado.co.nz or phone 0800 AVOCADO (0800 286 2236).

Industry Export Marketing Strategy (EMS) 2011 update The 2011 EMS has been approved, go to http://www.nzavocado.co.nz/index.

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php/pi_pageid/310 to view the current EMS and a list of the significant changes.

VII World Avocado Congress Don’t miss out on this international industry event. For more information and to register go to http://www.worldavocadocongress2011. com/?PageID=19 - remember to select AU/NZ special pricing.

Congress presentation topics: • Genetic Resources • Pests and Diseases • Culture Management • Post Harvest/Processing • Marketing • Commercial Stream The AIC will be hosting a reception for NZ growers and other invited guests on the Tuesday evening of the congress (September 6) at Rydges Plaza Hotel Cairns. Please remember to let us know if you will be going to the congress so we can keep in touch with you about this event. Contact Jo at the AIC to register your details, email jnunn@nzavocado. co.nz or phone 0800 286 2236.

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• QUICK DRY technology disperses perspiration and promotes moisture evaporation.

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AGA Member price $44.00 (Incl.

GST & postage) Men’s sizes M - XXL and Women’s Sizes 8-16.

Contact Jo to order, email jnunn@nzavocado.co.nz phone 0800 AVOCADO (0800 286 2236) or come into the AIC office level 5 Harrington House, Tauranga.

Withholding Periods and Maximum Residue Limits for Season 2011-2012 Withholding periods (WHP) and maximum residue limits (MRL) for all pesticide/market combinations have now been updated for the coming season.

These are being sent to you as part of your export registration process. In addition, you can find this information in the electronic spray diary http:// spraydiary.nzavocado.co.nz With the large crop forecast for this season it is important that as much fruit as possible has “all market access” status.

This means that there is no restriction on the markets that the fruit can be sent to based on the pesticides that have been used.

As part of the changes implemented this season, it is the responsibility of the exporter to be aware of the requirements of both the importing country and the

importer. Please check with your exporter before applying any sprays.

Maturity Monitoring The monthly monitoring programme for 2011 is now underway. Results provide an indication of progress and when harvest maturity is likely to be reached.

We have also included a table to show seed coat maturity. Seed coat assessment is an additional indicator of fruit maturity.

Go to http://www.nzavocado.co.nz/ index.php/pi_pageid/228 to view the Maturity Monitoring results 2011-2012 Export Registration register online now If you are planning to export your avocados this season then you need to register your orchard PPIN(s) with us.

Earlybird fee for growers is $155.25 (incl. GST) this pricing ends June 30 2011.

Export registration is completed online at https://secure.nzavocado.co.nz/.

Those growers who are unable to register online can either seek assistance through their packhouse/exporter or can request a paper form to fill in which will attract an additional $20 administration fee.

Spray Diary - season has defaulted to 2011/2012 Registering for new the season in the SPRAY DIARY - The diary season has now been defaulted to season 2011/2012.

Please click on DIARIES and then on REGISTER FOR NEW SEASON and fill in the requested information to complete the registration process for the new season.

Once you registered you will only see your spray diary entries from the 1 November 2010 to date. As there is an overlap in season dates all information in the overlap period (from 1 November 2010 to 30 June 2011) is automatically entered in both the current and previous season diaries. If you want to see your entries from the previous season you need to select 2010/2011 season on the DIARY page.

Please contact Juan at the AIC if you have any problems, phone 0800 286 2236.

“Capturing Value Creating Profit” HortNZ Conference Earlybird Registration Open Registrations are now open for the New Zealand horticulture industry’s conference in Rotorua on July 26 and 27.

This year’s theme is “Capturing Value Creating Profit” and it’s about the need to increase the value, not just the volume, of what we produce.

The Minister of Agriculture David Carter will officially open the conference on Tuesday, July 26.

Speakers include highly rated speaker and award-winning marketing specialist Peter Biggs, the chief executive of advertising agency Clemenger BBDO in Melbourne.

The Rabobank keynote speaker is Sir George Fistonich, founder and

owner of Villa Maria Estate. Sir George has agreed to make a rare speaking appearance for us, to talk about running a family business, and working with other family businesses as a marketing strategy.

PLEASE NOTE: HortNZ will not be posting out registration forms this year. Registration can be done online at www.hortnz.co.nz or by email to Hortnz2011@confer.co.nz For sponsorship and trade display opportunities, phone Leigh, 04 470 5665 or email: leigh.catley@hortnz.co.nz Growers - are you connected?

Don’t miss out on important updates and industry information; make sure you register your email address with the AIC to receive AvoConnect - the NZ Avocado Industry e-newsletter. Phone 0800 286 2236 or email joannenunn@ nzavocado.co.nz to register.

Important note: To avoid AvoConnect being blocked or ending up in your junk email folder, make sure you add info@ nzavocado.co.nz to your email’s “Safe Sender List”.

Horticentre - providing horticultural supplies since 1981 Horticentre is celebrating 30 years of supplying commercial horticultural products and technical support to the horticultural industry.

To celebrate and to recognise growers support, Horticentre will be running 12 months of specials and promotions.

35

36

By AIC quality coordinator Juan Rosales

jrosales@nzavocado.co.nz

Changes to the quality standards for the 2011/2012 season The Quality Standards Committee met on March 24, April 14 and May 13 to finalise its proposal for consideration by the Recognised Product Group.

In developing the proposal the Quality Standards Committee considered the submissions made to the committee by packers, growers and the AIC. The RPG met May 27 to consider the proposal and adopted it in its entirety.

AQIS Pre-clearance The AQIS pre-clearance results for the season were presented at the first Quality Standards Meeting on March 24. At this meeting it was requested that a breakdown of LBAM finds be presented at the next meeting.

It was noted that there were eight LBAM finds from seven packers, of which three packers had multiple AQIS failures. It was also noted that for these packers there were other indications that the waterblaster may not have been operating effectively.

The committee felt there was merit in having an engineer independently review the performance of the waterblasters.

Recommendation: That the industry funds a suitably qualified engineer to independently review the waterblaster designs against the known science and this review be made available to the industry with the objective of maximising efficacy of phytosanitary requirements and mitigating industry risk.

Early Season Maturity It was agreed that there needs to be increased robustness around the maturity clearance process to prevent a recurrence of the issues in Japan from two seasons ago. To this end the committee felt that extending the maturity testing criteria to include seed coat maturity warranted further investigation.

Recommendation: The AIC to extend the evaluation of seed coat maturity to include storage trials. To test dry matter and seed coat and storage for acceptable ripening quality by taking a selection of fruit at different maturities and to also factor in fruit size.

Reed This submission was referred to the Quality Standards committee from the EMS committee.

37

By AIC quality coordinator Juan Rosales

Changes to the quality standards fo The submitter would like the industry to facilitate the export of Reed avocados to include all destinations currently available for Hass avocados at the dry matter percentage as indicated by the customer.

It was noted from the previous meeting that the submitter was to provide additional information on the quality of low dry matter fruit. This has not been forthcoming.

The committee expressed concern around quality of early season Reed fruit and that further research is required to understand the requirements of this variety. Further it was pointed out that the submitter has the option of applying for an exemption to the EMS to export at a lower maturity standard.

Recommendation: The AIC to complete the trials including storage temperatures and duration. The AIC to consider combining year 2 and 3 concurrently to speed up results. The AIC to also conduct research around 21% dry matter. The Quality Standards Committee has grave concerns around the viability of Reed as an export variety based on the currently available research. Accordingly each shipment of Reed should require an out-turn report to be reported to the AIC. The opportunity does exist for the submitter to apply for an exemption to export at a lower maturity standard; however the exporter will need to provide the AIC with research showing acceptable quality at 21% dry matter.

48 Hour Pick to Pack Dispensation – Segregated into separate pallets In the view of the submitter the requirement to physically segregate product is no longer required as an electronic indicator can be attributed in the inventory system to the actual packs utilising either pack run or block identifier that contain fruit packed outside of 48 hours.

38

Any solution needed to work for the handlers ripening the product as this was the basis of the current requirement.

There was further discussion by the committee around mixed age pallets and the circumstances under which these arise. It was argued that consideration should also be given to pallets with mixed age product.

Recommendation: That a visual indicator card marked ‘mixed age’ identifying it as a mixed pallet be attached to the face of the pallet.

Mixed pallets defined as either: • A pallet containing compliant fruit and fruit which exceeded the pick to pack time; • A pallet containing compliant fruit packed more than four days apart.

Packaging This submitter requested that the grade standards for the packing of Coles RPCs and M5 pack type be corrected to accurately reflect the customer requirements, aligning the industry weight bands with the correct count and pack weights.

The committee felt that this submission raised broader issues in relation to reporting requirements, as currently each packaging type has one multiplier to obtain 5.5kg tray equivalents.

A separate sub-committee met to discuss the issue in more detail and developed the following recommendation, which was endorsed by the full committee.

Recommendation: • Allow the request.

• Signal the potential that this precedent could set in terms of a move away from minimum net pack weights to numbers of fruit pieces per tray based on count size fruit band weights.

• Shift audit focus away from minimum tray weights to individual fruit weights.

• Reconsider tolerance of undersize fruit (currently 10%).

• For reasons of equity it was felt that the shift to count size/number of fruit pieces should be adopted across all pack types, other than where there is a country-specific minimum net pack weight requirement.

Audit Frequency This submission raised several issues, the major one being the number of audits that packers have to submit to in a season. These included industry EMS audits, phytosanitary surveillance audits, AQIS inspections, customer inspections and food safety audits, amongst others.

The committee agreed that relatively few of the audits were initiated by the industry, with the majority initiated by MAF, AQIS and the customer. It was recognised as being desirable to have equivalent systems operating which would recognise the different audits taking place.

Recommendation: To work with the existing committee that has been formed between the AIC, packers and the auditing community to identify commonality and ultimately seek simplification and reduction of audits and costs.

Fruit Age The submitter queried whether the current fruit age requirements, which have now been in place for 10 years and were implemented in response to specific quality issues at that time, are still relevant in today’s context with subsequent improvements in the post-harvest handling chain. The submitter requested that the relevant information on fruit age be reexamined in light of this.

The committee was shown data relating fruit age and quality over several seasons and as recently as 2008 from out-turn data from both the USA and Australia.

s for the 2011/2012 season The results have been consistent across both markets and over time indicating that they are still relevant under today’s conditions.

Co-loading shipments is another option that could be used to manage fruit age.

Managing fruit age based on ETA rather than ETD is an existing option within the Quality Manual.

Recommendation: That the fruit age data be collated for presentations and delivered via a number of forums. i.e., Packer Forum, Grower Forum, AGM and web. The Grower Forum being held at the AGM could be DVD’d for future use.

Pre-clearance The submitter highlighted the frustrations that had been experienced with the pre-clearance programme in the last year and requested that the industry specifically investigate the possibility of having an accredited pest identifier based in the BOP and secondly that the AIC encourage MAF to ensure that the pest lists of NZ and Australia are aligned.

The committee saw merit in the suggestions and requested that these be investigated further.

Recommendation: Advise this submitter that the AIC will work with MAF to encourage alignment of pest lists between MAF and AQIS. The second part of the submission is being explored.

Food Safety & Harvester Declarations The submitter noted that the food safety requirements that the packers operate to through third party programmes have more stringent requirements with regards to on orchard audits than the industry programme. Where a packer has such a programme in place it is suggested that they should be exempted from the need to

produce grower and harvester declarations.

The committee agreed that providing these programmes are independently audited that an equivalence mechanism should be put in place.

Recommendation: The Technical Manager will draft a proposed clause around equivalence of third party programmes to exempt this requirement in specific circumstances relating to export customer requirements, in lieu of the grower and harvester declarations.

Harvester Declarations The submitter highlighted an inconsistency in the food safety requirements of the grower section of the Quality Manual and the food safety section of the Quality Manual relating to the definition of a consignment. It was also noted that there are a number of commercial harvesting contractors that are operating using only the grower declarations.

The committee agreed that any commercial contractors should comply with the relevant section of the Quality Manual and should register with the AIC. Recommendation: That all harvester contractors must be a registered harvester under the AIC Food Safety Programme and must show their compliance certificate or identify their certificate number in lieu.

Contract Sprayer Registration There was discussion around the need to establish a register of spray contractors.

The Quality Standards Committee discussed the merits both of registering spray contractors and whether there might be an accreditation standard for spraying avocados.

Recommendation Recognising that the industry wishes to establish a registration process for spray

Continued...

contractors to provide education and facilitate consultation it is recommended that: All commercial spray contractors and growers spraying orchards other than their own be registered with the AIC. AQIS Pre-Clearance The Quality Standards Committee received feedback regarding the recommendation on the protocols of waterblasting made by the 2010 Quality Standards Committee and approved by the RPG. Due to some issues with communication the adoption of these recommendations was not effected in 2010/2011. This committee considered these recommendations again and after consultation made the following recommendations.

Recommendation That the recommendation from the Quality Standard’s Committee process in 2010 be amended to read: That if a waterblaster is being used for markets other than the USA that it is run to packer determined operating conditions and monitored according to the USA protocol.

Recommendation That the recommendation on grower notification from the Quality Standard’s Committee process in 2010 be amended to read: Where a waterblaster is not being used or being used but not in a way to meet the relevant specified performance criteria then the affected growers are to be notified.

Recommendation Recognising that the industry should provide tools but should not be prescriptive about how those tools are used, provided there is accountability for outcome, it is recommended that the AIC start a consultation process to consider a method to calculate and publish packer performance from 2012/2013.

40

By AIC quality coordinator Juan Rosales

Horticultural Supplies Horticentre - Providing 30 Years of Horticultural Supplies (since 1981) Horticentre is celebrating 30 years of supplying quality commercial horticultural products and technical support to the Horticultural industry.

The history of the Horticentre Group begins with formation of Veg – Gro Supplies Limited being founded by the Auckland Vegetable Growers Society in 1981. It was set up for growers, run by growers to ensure growers obtained a fair deal when purchasing their horticultural supply requirements.

In 2006 the company was rebranded to Horticentre Limited, and to accommodate growth and expansion into the South Island, Tasman Crop Protection was also acquired.

30 years on the Horticentre Group (being Horticentre and TasmanCrop) continues to bring together world-class products provided by a team with specialist technical knowledge. Our product and service input offerings cover a wide range of horticultural crops, including; Vegetables (broad acre and greenhouse), Top Fruit (pip fruit, stone fruit, subtropicals), Vines and Berries (grapes, kiwifruit, strawberries and other berry crops), Ornamentals (outdoor, greenhouse and nursery) and Turf (sports and recreational).

The Horticentre Group has been a long time supporter of the horticultural industry when it comes to training, education, research and advancement of people within the industry. This comes about from the support growers give to the Horticentre Group for the work that the two Companies do for and within the horticultural industry.

Today the Horticentre Group has stores in key horticultural locations within New Zealand – six Horticentre stores in the North Island (Whangarei, Massey, Drury, Pukekohe, Tauranga and Hawke’s Bay) and three TasmanCrop stores in the South Island (Nelson, Blenheim and Motueka).

To celebrate 30 years of supporting the horticultural industry and to recognise your support as growers, Horticentre will be running 12 months of specials and promotions.

0800 855 255 www.horticentre.co.nz 40

AvoGreen® and export registration AvoGreen® is now an export requirement under the Export Marketing Strategy and growers’ accreditation to the programme is being confirmed as part of the registration process.

Currently there are more than a thousand growers registered under the AvoGreen programme who are having their orchards monitored by either an operator or owner-operator.

This season when you log onto the industry website to complete your grower export registration, the system will check that there is either an accredited AvoGreen owneroperator or operator associated to your PPIN. If this is the case, the registration process will continue and you will be able to export. However, if there is no accredited owneroperator or operator associated to the registering PPIN, you will be unable to complete the export registration process.

The majority of AvoGreen registered growers are fully accredited and will not have any problems to complete their export registration.

To ensure that you have no problems when going to register for export please make sure that, depending on who is monitoring your orchard, you have completed the following checklists: OWNER-OPERATOR • Training completed or exemption granted • Signed agreement with the AIC • Fee paid • Eyesight test OPERATOR • Signed agreement with Operator • Sample plan If you are having your orchard monitored by an owneroperator, please ensure that they have included your PPIN details on their licensing agreement. To enure that Avogreen is robust, the AIC will be carrying out audits to ensure that the requirements are being met.

Feedback from growers and packers to date has been generally very positive, with many growers reporting improved pest control and cleaner fruit as a result of monitoring and timely applications, despite the heavy pest pressure. As part of your annual tasks in relation to AvoGreen, a review of how effective your AvoGreen sampling plan and your monitoring schedule have been is highly recommended. The best time to do this is looking at your rejects report after packing and assessing the level of insect damage. This should give you an indication of how effective your monitoring and pest control programmes were.

By AIC Field Technician Bart Hofstee

bhofstee@nzavocado.co.nz

Germplasm update The AIC has a number of trials investigating potential new fruiting varieties as well as a number of promising overseas rootstock selections which are tolerant of phytophthora root rot.

This is a summary of the work which has been carried out over the last season.

Reed fruit In response to the increasing volumes of Reed plantings the AIC has commenced trial work on the storage potential of Reed.

This has focused on the influence of dry matter content on storage quality and the effect of, storage temperatures and length of storage period on fruit quality.

Fruit were harvested from seven different orchards across the main growing regions, with two orchards from both Whangarei and the Far North and three orchards from the Bay of Plenty. Tree age varied from three years to thirty years.

A sample of 20 fruit was collected from each orchard on a monthly basis and dry matter measured in order to track maturity over the season. Fruit were harvested at three different maturity levels, the first being an early harvest with a dry matter around 20%, a mid-season harvest with dry matter around 23-24% and a late season harvest with dry matters above 27%. At each harvest 100 fruit were picked for storage and 20 fruit for dry matter analysis. Fruit were stored at 7 °C ± 0.5°C. Fruit were condition checked on a weekly basis to ensure that they would hold out for the 28 days. The fruit was left to ripen at 20°C ± 1.0°C, 65%RH±5%.

There is a tendency for the younger blocks to have higher dry matter compared with older blocks. Young trees also have a faster rate of dry matter accumulation than older trees. When comparing young blocks there does not seem to be a strong regional difference between the BOP and Far North.

In 2009 a study with fruit from one Far North orchard stored for 28 days at 5°C developed severe diffuse flesh discolouration. Possible causes were identified as too low a storage temperature, fruit stored for too long (fruit age) or fruit that were fully mature in March. In this latest study 7°C was chosen as the storage temperature to remove the possibility of chilling injury as a contributing factor to the flesh discolouration. Only one orchard at the end of the season showed diffuse flesh discolouration suggesting that the relationship between maturity and temperature may warrant further investigation for Reed fruit.

The preliminary results indicate that dry matter content does affect fruit quality in Reed and that in general quality improves as maturity increases. The next issue of Avoscene will have a full write up on the results of this trial.

Lamb Hass To build on the current information with regards to fruit maturity and storage quality, Lamb Hass storage work was carried out. Considerable information has been gained with this variety over the last few years with Lamb Hass showing good potential as a variety which matures three months after Hass at a dry matter of roughly 27% with a preferred storage temperature of 7°C. Gem There was a very limited amount of Gem fruit available and this fruit was used to monitor dry matter progression.

Results to date indicate that Gem fruit tends to mature at a similar time as Hass.

Carmen Hass, Maluma Hass and Hass 3446 A limited amount of fruit of these varieties was available over the last season and was used to create a maturity curve for these three varieties. A few Maluma fruit were stored over a period of four weeks at a temperature of 5°C. Vascular browning was the most prevalent disorder but only a small number of fruit were stored. No Carman

Hass were stored due to insufficient fruit numbers. The Hass 3446 stored very well, as is to be expected.

In spring 2010 expressions of interest were asked for Maluma and Carman for the planting of semi commercial trial blocks with the aim of getting a total of 2000 plants of both Carman and Maluma established throughout the main avocado growing areas. The uptake of this by growers has resulted in the current propagation of just over 2000 Maluma trees and 1200 Carman trees. These trees will be ready for planting out in spring 2011 and should result in a far more detailed knowledge of these varieties in New Zealand conditions.

Rootstock evaluation trials A field trial was planted out in autumn 2009 in a heavy soil at Mangawhai (Eran Orchards) which had high phytophthora levels from a previous avocado block.

Clonal rootstocks Bounty, Dusa , Duke 7 and Zutano seedlings were planted.

These plants were grafted to Maluma Hass and Hass, over the last season the clonals Bounty and Dusa appear to be outperforming the Duke 7 rootstocks with Zutano being hit hard with phytophthora.

Although these clonal rootstocks appear to be establishing well, their cropping performance is yet to be assessed.

We thank John Trebilco for his assistance with this trial.

New rootstock and cultivar evaluation trials The newly imported rootstocks Latas, Dusa, Bounty, AIC 1, AIC3, Velvick and existing rootstocks Duke 7 and Zutano have been grafted with three different cultivars these being Maluma Hass, Carman Hass and Hass. These plants are being planted out in replicated trials in the Far North, planted May 2011; Whangarei, planted March 2011; and Bay of Plenty.

All the blocks chosen have a history of phytophthora presence in order to evaluate the new rootstocks under these conditions.

This should lead to discovering the suitability of these new rootstocks in either a soil with high phytophthora levels or a replant situation.

41

Regional Roundup There has been some interesting discussion across the industry on grower returns as our exporters publish their results. I have noticed over some time that there are quite significant differences in the way results are published and I’m not sure we as growers are BAy OF PLENTy all aware of exactly how our own

By Ashby Whitehead returns compare with those of our neighbour or someone exporting with a different exporter. I know that markets move fast and across any one year there will be a multitude of factors influencing the return my exporter can get for the pool of fruit they are selling, and in different years that allows that return to be better or not than the competitors. I agree fully that exporters should be able to differentiate their marketing activities and that will result in different returns. But I also believe I should be well enough informed to make the right choices, including that of the entities I contract with, and I should know how my fruit performs in market and how that impacts the money paid into my bank account.

I hear the argument that each exporter reports differently, so a grower can’t compare returns with another exporter. I wonder if we should have a mechanism so that we can compare returns. This promotes good reporting and puts the grower in a position where we know what has happened to our fruit, and how the return from our fruit has flowed back to our bank account. This might be the development of an industry reporting model, or just a mechanism for the reported results to be published, perhaps in this magazine. It is certainly a topic I believe should be discussed at the upcoming Roadshows or Grower Forums.

Firstly, congratulations to Sue and Shane Culham of Puripak Avocados, Supreme Award winners of the Ballance Farm Environment Awards Northland 2011. It is the first time a horticultural enterprise has won this award. It is a credit to Sue and Shane for the outstanding orchard they operate. I believe their success is excellent for the MID NORTH

By Mike Eagles avocado industry and can only help us moving forward. Those growers who attended the field day at the Culham orchard following their win also had the opportunity to meet Jen Scoular, the new industry CEO, and many growers had a one-on-one chat with Jen. A group of growers had a two hour meeting with Northpower on April 19 to try and solve the problem of growing avocado trees near power lines. It was a very useful 42

and productive meeting. I was joined by Mike Crum, John Wiessing, and Richard O’Donnell, who were all excellent in their contributions. We will produce a document, Guidelines to Growing Avocado Trees and Shelter Belt Trees in Proximity to Power Lines, which will be available to all growers as soon as it is published.

A group of growers and members of the wider horticulture community have been meeting with the Northland Regional Council to try and get some communication between both parties over water issues and the protection and allocation of water rights now and in the future. This is an ongoing process and I hope to be able to report progress on these issues in the immediate future. A big thank you to Chris Keenan from Horticulture New Zealand who has been instrumental in progressing both of these important issues.

The first of the winter storms has passed through the Mid North causing some damage with shelter and avocado trees being blown over and fruit being blown off trees. Let us hope that Mother Nature is kind to us this winter.

So far we are still waiting for winter.

Autumn has been great with no real cool weather yet but I’m sure it will be here soon. Our first real wind of the season hit us a FAR NORTH few weeks ago, very

By Ian Broadhurst strong but not cold.

Most orchards experienced very moderate fruit drop in exposed areas, with the odd avocado and shelter tree falling over.

Our summer has been great with excellent temperatures and timely rain which has set the trees up well for the next season. Summer flush extended well with most orchards heading into winter in pretty good condition.

Pest pressure from thrips has been the major issue for most orchards, although six spotted mite incidence has been low, which has been a real blessing. By now most growers should have liaised with

their various exporters to understand any restrictions in terms of spray programmes depending on market compliance.

Crop-wise the Far North is still looking great. The recent wind event won’t impact on overall fruit numbers although time will tell in terms of down-grade due to wind rub. Dry matter results so far appear to be slightly down on the same time last year, although orchards with young trees once again appear to be well in front.

Operationally, winter fertilising can provide plenty of opportunity to build carbohydrate levels over the cooler months. Research indicates the leaves function well at this time, especially in the north. This can be an excellent time to ensure our trees are well set up for flowering, as the cooler temperatures reduce the trees desire to push vegetative growth but to store reserves as part of the fruit setting process and subsequent spring flush.

As the up-and-coming season appears to be an ‘on’ year for most growers, we shouldn’t under-estimate the effect this has on the trees. As tonnes of fruit exit the orchard then in turn tonnes of fertilisers should enter to compensate and reduce the potential for biennial bearing as the trees run out of reserves.

At an executive level, nominations have been called for positions for Regional and At Large reps. It’s important to have your say in the voting processes and take the opportunity to give plenty of direction and feedback to your reps so they can fairly represent your views at the board table.

Look forward to the AGM, which will be held in Whangarei this year. Plenty of opportunity for discussion and input.

Who to pack with and who to export with? These are questions that many growers face each year.

This season I packed and exported with three different REST OF NZ

By David French packers and three different exporters and got three different results. What did I learn from all this? They each have

strengths and weaknesses and it is very difficult to compare and say that any one was significantly better than the others across the board. For example, Packer/ Exporter A may have had the best OGR (not FOB) payment but given the worst pack-out, so less trays received the higher export price; meanwhile Packer/ Exporter B had a very good pack-out at a lower OGR and Packer/Exporter C had a medium pack-out and a medium OGR but performed exceptionally well on the local market, so which of the three would you choose next year if you were going to pack and export with just one of them?

Other factors which I believe can also be almost as important as OGR are (and these can vary greatly from grower to grower): • Level of service offered (technical assistance with fertiliser and spray selections) • Personality (do you get on?)

• Reporting (is it accurate, is it relevant or is it just glossy?)

• Did they receive the same quality of fruit from you in the first place? Not very fair if all your fruit from the sick block down the back all went to one packhouse.

• What’s their track record, have they got one?

• What are their plans in a big volume year such as we seem to be heading for now?

• Responsible exporters aren’t just looking at the current seasons return.

They should also be planning for the future and this can mean sometimes having to ‘invest’ some fruit into what are currently less lucrative markets to build a relationship for the years to come when we can’t sell all our fruit into Australia for $20 OGRs. A good example of this is how the AVANZA group has been cooperating and ‘investing’ fruit in Japan.

So ask your packer/exporter some of these questions before you decide. Which one of the three will I choose this year?

Well I think I would want at least three years and probably five years of consistent results before I would say that one was better than the others.

In the mean time, three Christmas parties are better than one.

43

Regional Roundup Continued...

Promotional Investment, Committee Structures & Market Access

underestimating the value of avocados and fresh produce generally; avocados have many attributes that should be rewarded by consumers however we each need to take ownership of our role in the supply chain recognising that inconsistent fruit quality is a barrier to increasing consumption. The food service and processed product segments of the market are emerging and require our support and focus to ensure they develop successfully now to complement our category value in the years to come.

Promotion – strategies for increasing domestic avocado consumption at value.

As the AIC embarks on the process AT LARGE

By Tony Ponder of developing strategies to increase avocado consumption here at home, we are mindful that we need to invest sustainably to build and demonstrate a record of success which drives product demand at value.

Increasing per capita consumption in line with increasing supply will be challenging, particularly during the export window, however with more education, both the trade and consumers will be provided the opportunity to recognise not only the tremendous benefits that come with regular avocado consumption, but also the easy and affordable ways to integrate them into their daily lives.

Our domestic market is

Quality standards committee – we got this one right!

Congratulations to all who contributed to the recent quality standards review, which demonstrated just how effective this consultative process can be with committed stakeholder engagement.

It has been widely acknowledged that this committee was very effective in securing a recommendation to the AIC Board after robust debate, effective communication and a consensus of opinion on a set of pragmatic outcomes that will take the industry forward without compromise.

PMAC update I attended my second PMAC meeting during May and as is typical of these

meetings the agenda covered a wide range of market access and related topics however a couple of key learnings worth sharing come to mind.

The new MAF has been created over the last year from the amalgamation of MAF and NZFSA. July 1 will see MFish merged into the new organisation.

Significant factors influencing the new organisation include – the economic environment, the present government’s growth agenda and National’s desire to rationalise the public service in an 18 months to three year time period.

Work has commenced to develop MAF’s partnership approach with external parties like the avocado industry. A key issue for us and the wider plants sector will be ensuring appropriate resourcing and retention of resources within MAF to champion market access.

Industry is working to establish a working group on Private Standards, recognising their impact on growers and across the supply chain. This initiative is supported by PMAC. Private standards and their differing requirements increase complexity and cost. It is hoped building awareness will encourage MAF and MFAT to collaborate with industry to take a NZ inc. approach to satisfying private standard requirements.

A bright idea for phytophthora control.

•

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•

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Omnia- leading the industry with innovation.

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Sue and Shane Culham - Ballance Farm Environment Award Northland winners.

Photo supplied by BFEA organisers.

By Natasha Mitchell

A commercial and environmental success In March Puripak Avocados Ltd, owned by Sue and Shane Culham, became the first horticultural enterprise to win the Northland Ballance Farm Environment Awards in the six years since the awards were established.

The award recognises the couple’s commitment to running a successful orchard business while caring for the environment and the community.

“The judges said we had the whole package,” says Sue. “I think it was our passion for everything we do in life that helped us win. Everything we do, we put 150 per cent into it.”

Their Glenbervie property is 14.3 hectares and the couple planted 4.2 hectares of avocados in 2004 and a further 2 hectares are due to be planted in September 2011.

What makes this orchard unique is it has been carefully developed to protect the ancient puriri and taraire trees which are scattered around the property. Pockets of native bush have been restored and most are under conservation covenants, something which brought praise from the BFEA judges. The regenerating bush and good pest control means native birds are coming back to the orchard. The property also has

a river boundary and a stream, and Shane plans to make the river’s edge an indigenous tree park.

Although Puripak Avocados is not an organic orchard, the couple live on site, so they choose to use low-impact chemicals.

“It’s just being aware of the environment and what’s going on around us.”

Puripak Avocados was created as a standalone business and from the outset the aim was always for the orchard to pay its own way. Development started on a part-time basis and Sue now works there full-time while Shane operates an engineering business in Whangarei. This year is the first year it has been self-sustaining and they have now employed a contractor to help out.

The Culhams are trialling the new cultivar Maluma and are involved in the Avocado Industry Council’s pruning trial.

“I’m always looking for something different to try,” says Sue. “I’m in the orchard every day. I like to know exactly what’s going on, when and why, and if we’ve done anything wrong, what we can do better.”

As well as getting to know the trees by doing tasks like hand-fertilising, Sue keeps meticulous records that help her understand what’s going on in the orchard. This includes monitoring fruit pests, irrigation, daily readings with an electronic weather station, annual irrigation water tests, harvest data, nutrient applications, market and packhouse analysis and input costs.

The property’s volcanic soil is ideally

suited to the production and health of avocado trees. Soil and leaf tests are taken annually and a recommended fertiliser programme is followed precisely.

Sue is in regular contact with their orchard consultant every three or four weeks.

“We come from engineering and finance backgrounds, so it’s really important to have someone like that to help you, right from the start.

“If you’re going to go into avocados, you need to get advice. People use the word lifestyle – it’s a lifestyle but it’s also a business. You get out what you put in.”

The awards judges said the Culham’s meticulous management has resulted in exceptional tree size uniformity, zero plant mortality and excellent production across the entire orchard. Production has been continuously above industry averages for trees of the same age. Last season it produced 12.2 tonne per hectare.

Sue is an AvoGreen-accredited owner/ operator, a Growsafe-accredited applicator and has completed a Level 4 Certificate in Commercial Fruit Production Management. She is continuing her education with an extramural degree in horticulture from Massey University.

Puripak Avocados was one of the first avocado orchards in Northland to become NZGAP compliant.

The business also collected the Ballance Agri-Nutrients Habitat Improvement Award and the Massey University Discovery Award.

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Positive future fo

e for Northland water users What began as an objection to the dictatorial attitude towards avocado growers by some employees of the Northland Regional Council has developed into what looks like being a very positive outcome.

In November 2010, in response to increasing pressure for water takes to be better managed, the Government gazetted a new set of regulations. The message is if water use is not measured, it cannot be managed. At the moment it is estimated 31% of the water take throughout New Zealand is metered. Under the new regulations, by 2012 all water takes of 20 litres per second or more must be metered; by 2014 all takes of 10 litres per second must be metered and by 2016 all takes of more than 5 litres per second must be metered. Thus by 2016, 98% of water takes in the country will be metered.

However if your water take is less than 5 litres per second, a meter is not required.

This is where the problem first occurred.

Bureaucrats in the Northland Regional Council decided for themselves that ‘everyone’ must be metered, no exceptions (even if taking less than 5 litres per second) and any growers who questioned this decision were treated very brusquely and rudely. This naturally enough got backs up, and a number of growers got together and decided to see if they could fight these decisions.

Sue and Shane Culham facilitated a meeting with Ken Paterson, CEO of the Northland Regional Council, and they arranged a meeting on March 28 to sit down and come up with some solutions. We contacted Chris Keenan, Horticultural New Zealand manager resource management and environment, for his leadership, which was invaluable.

Our levies are well spent on Chris; he does

a fine job. The meeting was attended by a number of growers plus representatives of as many Northland horticultural sectors (fruit/ vegetables/flowers) as we could contact.

The meeting was very positive except for two people at the table. The two Northland Regional Council staff members who attended the meeting were uncomfortable with the situation. We agreed to form a Horticulture Committee to work through issues and to have input into the council’s Regional Policy Statement which is being drawn up at the moment.

A second meeting held on May 2 was attended by Ken Paterson and two new employees (one from Enterprise Northland), who demonstrated a more inclusive attitude. This meeting was to decide on a list of objectives for the Horticulture Committee. The grower group impressed on the NRC the economic benefits the horticultural industry brought to Northland and the need to set a strategy that facilitated the growth of horticulture in Northland. It was stressed that horticulture was of key importance to improving the GDP and economic development in Northland. At the moment horticulture is one of the top five industries in Northland.

The NRC had previously stated it was important water use was more strictly controlled in Northland and that more accurate water use figures were required to achieve this. Horticulture is the industry that has been targeted to provide this information by metering, though growers have provided these records for years and yet horticulture is percentage-wise a very small user of water in Northland (and the whole country). We have therefore requested that the water use information we have provided for many years be properly collated and the results be given to us to help in the better use and understanding of this valuable resource. Rather than being told what to do, we would like to be involved in the decision-making so we can be aware of some of the problems confronting the NRC and its staff can be aware of some of the problems confronting horticulturalists. We also want equity in

how industries are treated over water usage, as we feel we are being targeted because we are a comparatively small sector, while other much larger users of the water resource are allowed unlimited and uncontrolled use of water. We emphasised that we were responsible users of the water resource and wanted to be included in any future planning with regards to the resource.

As a result of this meeting, a Horticulture Forum has been established, made up mainly of those representatives who attended each meeting. We wanted a wide range of horticulturists to give us a diverse range of opinions. We are looking at a collaborative approach to work through any problem areas.

Among the future areas to discuss are; • To identify land of high economic value to horticulturists with available water resource and suitable soil. (Current soil and water data is very outdated and the NRC will rectify this.)

• Future-proofing of water on consents.

• Look at how water resource practices work in other regions e.g. Canterbury, Tasman (water reservations).

• Better use of water resources - educate users.

• Equity - a fairer system for all industries.

• Visions, supported by evidence and facts.

• Inclusion in an advisory role (in the relevant area) when drawing up the Regional Policy Statement.

NRC has allocated a modest budget through Enterprise Northland and an action plan will be drawn up (by Enterprise Northland), then we will look into the strategy to be followed. Once this is under way, we will promptly identify any limitations before moving to the next step. If we can obtain further funding (Sustainable Farming Fund or Primary Growth Fund) we may extend the approach.

The outcome has been that by working through the issues we have a far better understanding with the NRC and vice versa. We look forward to cooperating with the council in future years to the benefit both parties.

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By AIC communications officer Midge Munro midgemunro@nzavocado.co.nz

New Zealand P

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d Promotion Update The AIC has completed stage one and two of a three stage consumer research project.

The core objective of the research is to understand more about the purchase dynamics of the avocado buyer to identify growth opportunities and consumer focussed strategies. We will use this information to develop a marketing and communication plan to drive avocado sales in the peak season from 2011.

Background of Homescan and why we invested in it The method used for stage one and stage two of the research project is Nielson Homescan. A consumer panel of 2500 New Zealand households (representative of the population) scan all grocery items (loose and packaged) taken into the home - from all sources (supermarket, farmers market, roadside stall etc) using a barcode scanner and supplementing data from a barcode book for shopping trip information and non-barcoded items (like loose avocados). Purchase data is automatically sent back to Nielson, who processes and analyses the data for clients.

This method was chosen because it gives us data on actual purchase behaviour rather than claimed behaviour as you would get when surveying consumers and asking them to recall purchases. It allows continuous tracking over time.

Stage one of the project looked at avocado buyer behaviour and the averages over a full year (Year Ended 10 October 2010) compared to the previous 12 months and stage two focuses on the peak avocado season (24 weeks ending 27 March 2011) compared with the same period 12 months prior.

SNAPSHOT OF KEy RESULTS: Avocado Shopper behaviour yE 10 October 2010 vs previous year Household Penetration

99.2% 60.6%

Annual Spend

$288.32 $13.60

74.0% $0.80

Total Fresh Fruit:

0.3%

Total Fresh Fruit 1.5m Housholds

0.2%

$24.01

2.8%

Avocados

Berries

933k Housholds

1.1m Housholds

The above shows the percentage of households purchasing fresh fruit, avocados and as a comparison, berries.

From this we can see that 39.4% of NZ households do not purchase avocados.

If we compare this with Australia - a developed avocado market where significant investment has been made in promotion - 63.8% of households purchase avocados.

Compared to the same period in 2009, household penetration of avocados has increased 0.2% in 2010.

Purchase Frequency

$0.11

Avocado:

$2.00

Berries:

$6.45 per $1.79 per $4.53 per spend occasion spend occasion spend occasion +$0.12 +$0.01 +$0.02

The above shows consumers’ annual average spend on fresh fruit, avocados, and berries.

Avocado purchasers are spending on average $1.79 each time they buy avocados (7.6 times a year). To compare, Australian avocado consumers are spending on average $21.56 a year on avocados (NZ$2.57 spend per occasion).

This data shows that the spend per occasion on avocados has increased slightly however this has not changed enough to impact positively on the overall yearly spend which has decreased by 11 cents.

The drop in purchase frequency has brought the annual spend down in spite of the slight value increase per purchase.

Value Share - YE 10 October 2010

44.7 7.6

0.7

Total Fresh Fruit

0.1

Avocados

5.3

0.4

Berries

The above shows the number of purchase occasions in 12 months for fresh fruit, avocados, and berries.

The data shows that avocado purchasers buy avocados 7.6 times a year or once every 48 days. To compare, Australian avocado purchasers buy avocados 8.4 times a year or once every 43 days.

We can see that purchase frequency has declined slightly from the same period 12 months prior, whereas berries have had an increase.

Imagine the above pie chart is a shopping basket filled with a consumer’s fruit purchases for the entire year - avocado makes up 3% of the value of the shopping cart. To compare, avocados value share in Australia is 6.9%.

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New Zealand Promotion Update Continued...

As shown above, avocado ranks 8th within fresh fruit behind bananas, apples, citrus, stone fruit, grapes, berries and pears. Most other fruit categories experienced a decrease in value share, however avocados showed no change from the previous 12 months, whereas berries and grapes showed a significant increase.

Who is the avocado buyer?

Typical avocado purchaser is more likely to be...

1-2 member Households

Higher income households

Primary shopper aged 55+

Older singles & Couples

Who is spending less on avocados?

Demographic groups showing largest decline in spend are...

Shoppers aged 35-44yrs - 22.2% decrease

Mixed families* - 11.8% decrease

Young families** 9.1% decrease

* Adult shopper with at least one child aged <11 yrs and at least 1 child aged 11-17 yrs ** Adult shoppers whose children are all aged <11 yrs

Who is the most loyal to avocados?

Most loyal* avocado purchasers

Who is spending more on avocados?

Fastest growing demographic groups are...

Shoppers aged <35 yrs - 35.5% increase in spend

3+ member households 18% increase in spend

Older families* - 10.7% increase in spend

*Adult shopper whose children are all aged 11-17 yrs

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45-54 yrs

Adult Households

1-2 member households

Older singles and couples

Households without children *Spend more than 8% of fresh fruit budget on avocados

Loyalists, or those spending greater than 8% of their fresh fruit spend on avocados, account for nearly half of $ sales of avocado (20.7% of avocado buyers contribute 46.6% of the total value of the category).

However the number of high loyalty buyers decreased by 0.8% in the 12 month period ended 10 October 2010 vs the 12 months prior.

Who is the least loyal to avocados?

Least loyal* avocado purchasers Households with children

Young and mixed families**

Households with children 0-4 years

4+ member households Households without children

* Spend less than 4% of their fresh fruit budget on avocado ** Young family = Adult shoppers whose children are all aged <11 yrs, Mixed family = Adult shopper with at least one child aged <11 yrs and at least 1 child aged 11-17 yrs

The above shows the demographic

groups who are least loyal to avocado or spend less than 4% of their fresh fruit budget on avocados.

This group has grown in number - there are 1.1% more low loyalty avocado purchasers in 2010 compared to the same period in 2009.

SNAPSHOT OF KEy RESULTS: Avocado shopper behaviour peak season 27 September - 27 March 2011 vs 12 months ago Household Penetration

99.1% 52.4%

76.3%

during the peak avocado supply period.

From this we can see that 47.6% of NZ households do not purchase avocados during spring/summer - 8.2% more households purchase across the year than during the peak season.

Compared to the same period in 2009 - 2010, household penetration of avocados has decreased markedly by 4.5%.

This data when compared to the 12 month data analysed earlier in this article shows that the majority of annual avocado buyers purchase in the peak season.

Number of purchase occasions

4.5%

Total Fresh Avocados Fruit 734k Households

The above shows the percentage of households purchasing fresh fruit, avocados and as a comparison, berries

$150.80 $10.54 $0.80 Total Fresh Fruit:

0.2

Total Fresh Fruit

0.3

Avocados

$21.48

5.3

3.0%

Berries

Summer Spend

21.3 4.9

0.3%

avocados, and berries made during the peak avocado supply season.

The data shows that during spring/ summer, avocado purchasers buy avocado 4.9 times during 24 weeks or once a month which shows that avocado purchasers shop more frequently during the peak season.

We can see that purchase frequency has declined slightly from the same period 12 months prior. This is in line with decreases across total fresh fruit.

0.3

Berries

The above shows the number of purchase occasions for fresh fruit,

$2.42 Avocado:

$0.72 Berries:

$7.08 per $2.15 per $4.57 per spend occasion spend occasion spend occasion +$0.12 +$0.59 +$0.13

The above shows how much consumers spent on average on fresh

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New Zealand Promotion Update Continued... fruit, avocados, and berries during the peak avocado supply period.

Avocado purchasers are spending on average $2.15 each time they buy avocados (4.9 times during the peak supply period). This represents a 20% increase on each shopping trip than the annual average.

As shown above, there is an increase in avocado trip spend from summer 2009 - 2010 to summer 2010 - 2011. This is well ahead of inflationary growth, suggesting larger purchase quantities or significantly higher prices than the previous summer.

Share of spend on Fresh Fruit

Who is the avocado buyer during summer?

Peak season avocado purchaser is more likely to be...

Larger households (3-4 members)

Low and high income

Shopper <44 yrs

Adult households and young families

As seen above, there is a much broader range of buyers during the summer season which will be due to the affordability of avocado vs during the year and availability of multi buys which would appeal to the larger households.

Who is spending more on avocados?

Fastest growing demographic groups are...

Shoppers aged <35 yrs - 51% increase in spend Low income households - 32% increase in spend

Male primary shoppers - 30% increase in spend 3-4 member households - 36% increase in spend

Who is the most loyal to avocados during summer?

The pie chart above represents average consumer fruit purchases during the peak avocado supply period - avocado makes up 4% of the value of fruit purchased.

The data shows that avocado has a higher value share in the peak season (vs the 12 month view analysed earlier in this article showing avocado with 3% value share) however there is no significant change in the rankings (becomes 7th equal with pear).

During this period the value share of stone fruit and grapes increased significantly vs the same period 12 months prior while bananas decreased markedly along with a significant drop in apples value share. Avocado and tropical fruits increased slightly during this time.

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Most loyal* avocado purchasers during peak season... <35 yrs

Older singles and couples

1-2 member households

Households without children

*Spend more than 12% of fresh fruit budget on avocados.

During the summer season the shoppers most loyal to avocado are younger than those who are most loyal on an annual basis.

Who is the least loyal to avocados during summer?

Least loyal* avocado purchasers Households with 5+ members

Young and mixed families**

* Spend less than 7% of their fresh fruit budget on avocado ** Young family = Adult shoppers whose children are all aged <11 yrs, Mixed family = Adult shopper with at least one child aged <11 yrs and at least 1 child aged 11-17 yrs

Conclusions • The majority of annual avocado buyers purchase in the peak season - avocado purchasers shop more frequently and spend 20% more each shopping trip than the annual average.

This conclusion is no surprise but it is interesting to put actual numbers to it.

• The statistic of most concern is the decline in penetration from an annual to peak season view. During the summer periods analysed, household reach and purchase frequency has reduced for most demographic groups, including our “core” buyers. This presents a gap of 200,000 avocado purchasing households who did not buy this summer (potential incremental sales of $2m). A possible reason is that these people may have access to avocados from friends who have trees or people are sharing their multi buys.

• A challenge for avocados is to gain importance for shoppers over other fruits and vegetables.

• There are significant opportunities for growth among young families and growth of our core buyers with a focus on one more purchase occasion.

• Younger shoppers, larger households and families with older children are important to the peak season as they increase their loyalty to avocado in summer - understanding their motivations and usage of avocado in summer is needed to capitalise on this opportunity.

From this data we can conclude that increasing buyer engagement and encouraging shoppers to purchase more often will drive avocado growth annually and in summer. The “how to engage” is what we will look at in stage three of the research.

By AIC laboratory manager Toni Elmsly telmsly@nzavocado.co.nz

Reading your trees The AIC successfully obtained funding from the MAF Sustainable Farming Fund in 2008 to develop and refine a system that can be used by avocado growers to identify when best to intervene to manage irregular bearing.

This project aims to reduce avocado growers’ reliance on prescriptive tree management by; • Educating growers on how to read the key phenological or growth stages on their trees, • Producing a definitive guide to reading your trees that all growers can use to evaluate their success at manipulating avocado tree phenology at key growth stages thereby changing the culture of avocado growing away from prescriptive management.

Irregular bearing is when high yields in an “on” year are followed by low yields in the subsequent ‘off’ year in a synchronised fashion. Irregular crops due to irregular bearing are a key limiting factor for the avocado industry.

The industry has the capacity to triple in value, but growth is constrained by the impacts of irregular bearing. Irregular supply is hindering avocado exporters’ ability to build markets and is a disincentive to investment in new infrastructure.

In the years when the crop is low, with the consequent reduced income avocado growers tend to cut back on inputs, including fertiliser which further reinforces the irregular bearing cycle.

Another factor contributing to irregular bearing is the ‘one size fits all’ approach to nutritional management, with avocado growers having a heavy reliance on a

prescriptive approach to nutrition. The key to overcoming irregular bearing is to manage trees according to their requirements at key phenological or tree growth stages. The ability to ‘read’ trees and respond with the appropriate management inputs is a skill that very few avocado growers possess, but one which defines the industry’s most successful growers.

Over the last two and half years several consultants and avocado growers have been working co-operatively to determine the best way to present the Read Your Tree guide for growers to use.

During this time the guide has been under constant evaluation. The guide looks at the key indicators of an ‘ideal’ tree at several key crop growth stages and allows trees to be rated on a scale. The guide also looks at common deviations from the ideal at each growth stage.

There have been several versions and numerous drafts produced, all of which have gone back to growers for feedback.

The first version of the guide was considered too large and growers felt that it was too complicated to use. Another version was produced based on feedback from the consultants and the participating growers, with growers in particular looking for a simpler guide requiring fewer decisions on the part of the end user. This revised version of the guide was again sent back out to growers for further comment.

This resulted in an even simpler version being produced. This version forms the basis of the final guide and uses pictorial scales as opposed to a key or rating scale approach.

As part of the process, growers took photographs of what they were assessing and these were evaluated with the consultants to ensure that the growers are able to visually capture and understand the material described within the guide at the different phenological stages. As a result, a library of images has been created and

suitable photographs have been selected for inclusion in the pictorial rating scales for use in the final version of the guide.

The second phase of this project was the validation phase. The scales have been tested to verify their appropriateness. This involved participating growers, consultants and AIC technical staff tagging shoots in an attempt to identify the most desirable type of shoots that would provide good flowering potential in the coming spring as well as produce extension growth to provide a return crop the following season.

The shoots were photographed at regular intervals and their performance assessed over the following eighteen months. Each participant tagged the ‘ideal’ shoots as well as those they considered to be weak and those that would be overly vigorous or vegetative. The fruit set and shoot growth arising from these tagged shoots were closely monitored using the revised guide.

This ensured the accuracy of the guide in terms of identifying productive shoots at different phenological stages.

The project is now nearing completion and will produce a Read Your Tree grower guide that describes how far away avocado trees are from their ‘ideal’ state for regular cropping and gives a list of intervention tools for the grower to consider. It is hoped that this guide will inform, stimulate and encourage our grower community toward a more proactive approach to orchard management and hopefully achieve more regular production of better quality fruit.

It won’t provide all the answers but should assist in ensuring that we are asking the right questions.

The Read Your Tree Guide will be released to the industry at the Grower Forums in August.

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By Natasha Mitchell

Saying ‘hola’ to avocados Alvaro Vidiella

New Avocado Industry Council project scientist Alvaro Vidiella hopes his experience in the Spanish fruit industry will benefit the New Zealand avocado industry.

His two objectives as project scientist are to evaluate and report on the germplasm programme and to recommend options for a knowledge platform to help growers and the wider industry communicate information and knowledge more effectively.

The germplasm programme is a long-term project which the AIC has been involved in for more than 10 years. It can take 10 to 15 years to prepare a new variety for release, including on-orchard trials and research into post-harvest characteristics and fruit storage requirements.

“The industry has different objectives and problems that can be solved by bringing in new cultivars,” says Alvaro.

“I’ll be analysing the project’s trajectory

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and outcomes to better allow decisions on its future objectives and strategy.”

The new knowledge platform is an exciting project for Alvaro as he has worked on similar projects in the past. New technologies mean there are now many new, highly useful ways to exchange information and knowledge. The key is finding the right instruments, says Alvaro. Understanding the relationship between scientists, growers and other agents in the New Zealand avocado industry will be an important part of this project.

He says traditionally in most horticultural industries there have been great difficulties in connecting all sides of the information equation.

“It is always a difficult task for scientists and growers to correctly aim and construct scientific output as part of the solutions that the industry is seeking for its main problems. Considering the amount of information and knowledge that has to be managed to correctly aim research, it is extremely important to have the broadest possible perspective of each problem. This can only be achieved with a collective analysis approach.”

comes to Tauran ga from Cordoba in Spain.

Alvaro has a Bachelor of Agriculture (a six year degree in Spain) and a PhD in Horticulture from the University of Cordoba. His thesis looked at the irregular bearing problems experienced by the stonefruit industry.

In the past Alvaro was also a lecturer in fruit science at Seville University and a freelance horticultural consultant. His work as a consultant enabled him to gain a good understanding of how to help growers to optimise the outcome of their fruit crops.

Alvaro says the New Zealand avocado industry has a good structure and growers are well supported by the AIC compared with the industry structures he has been familiar with in Spain, and this has been an important part of his decision to join the AIC. Alvaro and his family are keen to move to New Zealand because they had heard so many positive stories about it.

Originally from Uruguay, he has lived in Spain for the last 20 years. Alvaro learnt English while studying at international schools and one of his tutors was a New Zealander.

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