Avoscene September 2014

Avoscene New Zealand Avocado Growers’ Journal

September 2014

Historic orchard coming back to life

Inside this Issue Export season preview Northland storm NZ Avocado retail toolkit launched Tackling fruit theft Avoscene September 2014

l

1

2

l

Avoscene September 2014

Contents NZ Avocado Office PO Box 13267 Tauranga 3141 New Zealand

Comment

Newsroom

Markets

Level 5, Harrington House 32 Harington Street Tauranga 3110 Ph: 07 571 6147 or 0800 AVOCADO (0800 286 2236) www.nzavocado.co.nz

NZ Avocado

From the Chair

4

Growing the Business

6

Going Global

9

Outside the Box

10

The NZ Market

12

Certifiably Organic

13

Regional Roundup

15

Growers Letter

19

@NZ_Avocado

Directors Bay of Plenty Ashby Whitehead NZAGA & AIC Chair Ph 07 573 6680 m. 027 283 2192 alwhitehead@xtra.co.nz

Various News

20

Export season preview 38 Avocado retail toolkit launched 41

On the Orchard

Pollination research update 29 Northland storm recovery 31 Identifying limiting factors 34

Far North Ian Fulton Ph 09 406 8808 ian.fulton@clear.net.nz Mid North Sue Culham m. 021 771 686 sculham@xtra.co.nz At Large Roger Barber Ph 09 435 0785 m. 021 488 124 barbers@ihug.co.nz John Cotterell Ph 07 549 3395 m. 0274 513 138 jccotterell@actrix.gen.nz John Schnackenberg Ph 07 549 0717 m. 021 731 437 jschnack@ihug.co.nz

Reports

Avocentric - Tatara

Nourish

43

Be prepared for biosecurity 47 Food Act 2014

48

Safe and secure: tackling fruit theft

51

New health research

Out and About

55

Out and About

58

Recipe 57

Tony Ponder NZAGA Vice Chair Ph 07 552 4223 m. 0274 733 712 tony@flaxmillavocado.co.nz Rest of NZ Cover Shot: Louise Dinmore and Peter Woods are the new owners of one of the Bay of Plenty’s oldest avocado orchards.

David French Ph 09 238 3359 m. 0274 375 315 famille@ps.gen.nz Export Directors Alistair Young, Andrew Darling

NZ Avocado Staff

Avoscene Advertising & Editorial

Jen Scoular, CEO

Midge Munro, Communications Manager

Michael Gray, Avocado Analyst

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

jen.scoular@nzavocado.co.nz | 021 741 014

midge.munro@nzavocado.co.nz | 027 306 7089

michael.gray@nzavocado.co.nz

Edwina Aitchison, Executive Assistant

For advertising contact: Suzy King at Sun Media Ltd email suzy@thesun.co.nz Design and production: Kym Johnson, Sun Media Ltd email kym@thesun.co.nz

Dr Alvaro Vidiella, R&D Manager

Joanne Nunn, Administration Assistant

edwina.aitchison@nzavocado.co.nz | 021 977 890

alvaro.vidiella@nzavocado.co.nz | 021 025 20412

jo.nunn@nzavocado.co.nz

Nici Kennerley, Business Manager

Phillip West, R&D Officer

Brad Siebert – Biosecurity & Programme Manager

nici.kennerley@nzavocado.co.nz | 021 164 6875

phillip.west@nzavocado.co.nz | 021 706 504

Glenys Parton, Industry Systems Manager

Bevan Jelley, New Zealand Market

glenys.parton@nzavocdo.co.nz | 0274 99 70 81

brad.siebert@nzavocado.co.nz

bevan.jelley@nzavocado.co.nz | 021 994 097

Avoscene September 2014

l

3

Comment

View from the Chair

By Ashby Whitehead, Chair, NZAGA & AIC

alwhitehead@xtra.co.nz

We have the chance to create a step change in our industry – growers must support this, not work against it.

At recent industry meetings and the grower

forum, a graph was shown of the forecast volumes into the Australian market for the coming season; the phrase “train smash” has been used to describe a section of the graph showing volumes at levels reminiscent of 2011-12.

We have over the past year been talking fairly confidently about the industry’s ability to handle the coming volumes.

4

l

Avoscene September 2014

As the harvest dawns, the reality of the situation is hitting and we must put into practice what we have been preaching since the 2011-12 season.

We have been constantly communicating the need to develop our markets in Asia. This is also a huge part of the industry PGP programme. In order to achieve this, growers must support the development of these markets with volume.

Comment

“As the harvest dawns, the reality of the situation is hitting and we must put into practice what we have been preaching since the 2011-12 season”

I commend those exporters who are developing the Asian markets for tomorrow’s profit and I absolutely charge all growers with this responsibility as well.

Stick to the flow plans organised by your packer and exporter. Acting outside of this best practice will contribute to collapse of markets and erosion of value for the whole industry.

Northland storm – July

The storm in July was another blow (apologies for the pun) for some Whangarei growers after having already suffered a poor season in 2013.

However, we avocado growers are a resilient bunch and you were out there with your chainsaws, cutting up, picking up and getting on with it. Some needed a bit more assistance and we thank Hon. Nathan Guy for his visit to avocado orchards in Whangarei and his subsequent declaration of a medium scale adverse event. This then set in motion funding and a workforce to help those most in need.

On behalf of the Industry I would like to thank Sue Culham and Ian Fulton for doing an outstanding job as NZAGA Representatives during the storm.

I would also like to thank Mike Eagles of the Rural Support Trust for all his time and effort in co-ordinating the clean-up for growers.

Horticulture New Zealand AGM and PMA-ANZ Conference

In mid-June I attended the Horticulture New Zealand Annual General Meeting.

The main topic of discussion was the HortNZ constitution review, a process which has involved Working Group Forums over the past year.

All motions that were put forward were supported.

To see these motions please go to www.hortnz. co.nz/overview/AGM and click the AGM papers PDF and scroll to page 10.

The industry also had a stand at the conference where the Amazing Anytime New Zealand market promotional material was launched. The handling video and promotional toolkit was presented and well received by retailers and marketers. Thanks to Bevan and Midge for a great job.

Also on the industry stand was NZ Avocado Ambassador Nadia Lim, who intrigued delegates with her green avocado cheesecake and smoothie and got their taste buds going with the classic avocado on toast.

Promotions

I am excited about the work we are doing in New Zealand with Nadia Lim. I hope you have all had a chance to see the industry TV commercials which Nadia fronts that went to air earlier this month. I am proud we have achieved this activity and that we have a relationship with one of New Zealand’s rising stars.

The commercials will also be available to view on our website, along with two extended videos with Nadia talking through some recipes and giving her top information about the nutrition benefits of avocado – take a look and share them with your friends.

Avoscene September 2014

l

5

Comment

Growing the Business

By Jen Scoular, CEO, New Zealand Avocado

jen.scoular@nzavocado.co.nz

It is all go for the NZ Avocado team who have processed nearly 1000 export registrations, implemented promotions campaigns for the season in three export markets and the New Zealand market and are embarking on 12 R&D projects.

We battled rain and wind to attend the Grower Forum and NZAGA & AIC Annual General Meeting on August 20 in Paihia - so much for the ‘winterless’ north!

“To finish my week I stopped off in Auckland to join Nadia Lim on set to shoot three 15 second television commercials promoting Amazing Anytime New Zealand Avocados”

I had been in Wellington at the Plant Market Access Council meeting the day before, and my flight from Auckland to Kerikeri was cancelled due to the weather.

I was consequently mini-bussed up to Kerikeri, arriving at the venue at half past mid-night.

Brad Siebert joined the NZ Avocado team in August, as Biosecurity and PGP manager. Brad updated growers of the timeline for Government Industry Agreements and introduced Lois Ransom, who gave an informative background of GIA and the benefits for NZ Avocado to be at the decision-making table for biosecurity going forward.

The rain continued strongly all day on Wednesday but didn’t dampen the very positive mood of the attendees and participants. We took growers through the activities

I took growers through the Primary Growth Partnership (PGP) activities and how the PGP has influenced the industry strategy going forward.

we undertake with growers levies; Alvaro and Phillip explained the 12 projects within the R&D programme and the tools they are seeking to develop for growers. We have included a handout in this AvoScene setting out those 12 projects and the benefits to growers of each one.

Midge took growers through the promotions programme being planned for New Zealand, Australia, Japan and Korea, adding flavour with the Australian television commercial and a clip of the television show with Nadia Lim which was filmed for the Asian TV channel.

Bevan followed with an update of the activities he is leading with New Zealand marketers and retailers that helped raise the value in the New Zealand market to $33m in 2013-14. He showed the video we have filmed for produce staff on best practice handling of avocados, and tips for produce managers on how to help drive sales of avocados. He also explained how the New Zealand category story “Amazing Anytime” launched at PMA in June was setting the scene for the season ahead.

Growers sat up when Glenys led a session on Health & Safety – stressing that growers do have accountability for this in their orchards, and that the consequences of

6

l

ignoring those accountabilities is expensive.

Avoscene September 2014

The AGM followed the Grower Forum and included further update from Ashby on the refresh of the industry strategy. My presentation looked at the changes we have seen in the industry, the collaboration we are all participating in, and highlighted the drivers as I saw them, for the excellent results achieved in 2013-14.

Looking forward, I presented the crop estimate and budget for the current year, and an explanation on the Primary Growth Partnership costs over the coming five years.

I headed up to Houhora the following day with Ian Fulton, Alvaro and Phillip to meet with the growers involved in the nearly implemented ‘working group’ on tree decline. Working groups will be set up to progress R&D in three different PGP projects; canopy management, new cultivars and tree decline. Working groups are a new initiative for us, using ideas from other industries, developed as we built the business case for PGP. They will involve a small group of growers identified as having the capability, experience and or knowledge of the issue we are looking to solve, within the areas described above. The objective for each group is to participate in the development of R&D activities that will develop best practice tools for industry use.

Comment

Across the industry our best chance of good returns will require us all to play our part in delivering a steady supply of quality avocados to meet the market demand.

Working groups will include growers, NZ Avocado, scientists, and rural professionals; a term we use for those involved in avocados, including consultants, orchard managers, contractors, and service providers.

The intention is for information about the groups, the innovation they are trialling and the progress being achieved, to be made available at field days, through AvoScene reports and on the website.

Phillip reports on one of the 12 R&D projects Orchard Analysis on page 34.

David Pattermore also gives us an update on page 29 of the pollination project ‘bee minus to bee plus’ that he is leading.

To finish my week I stopped off in Auckland to join Nadia Lim on set to shoot three 15 second television commercials promoting Amazing Anytime New Zealand Avocados. With three changes of clothes, hair and avocado dishes, the crew of camera men and women, photographers and designers professionally filmed and photographed, checking each take, making adjustment before accepting a perfect take was on camera. A real change from my day job – exciting to see how amazing avocados still look after four hours in front of a camera!

Nadia was super-professional, clear in her lines, a perfect ambassador for our New Zealand avocado.

I joined growers in Whangarei following the storm in July and later that week Alvaro and Phillip met with affected growers to document best practice on-orchard practices that growers should follow to mitigate medium and long term effects of the wet weather.

We have included an interview with growers who took action two years ago following a similar storm.

They successfully mitigated what could have been

very negative medium or long term impacts of wet conditions on avocado.

Serious volumes of avocados are starting to be exported to Australia, Japan and the USA. We include on page 38 a report from exporters on the planning and monitoring that’s taken place to help deliver value across the industry in the big season.

Across the industry our best chance of good returns will require us all to play our part in delivering a steady supply of quality avocados to meet the market demand.

Please be aware of the plans your exporter has, please discuss your harvest timing and play your part in that disciplined supply.

Avoscene September 2014

l

7

8

l

Avoscene September 2014

By Alistair Young, Export Director, AIC & Chair, AVEC

Comment

Going Global alistair@southernproduce.co.nz

This is a watershed year for exporters and growers alike to show we are capable of coordinating the flow of fruit to the Australian market that ensures we achieve the best possible values. More than ever, we will be relying on everyone working together to make this happen.

Communication between exporters, packers and

AU AU Retail

growers will be critical to the success of the next few months as we enter into a challenging harvest period.

2014-15 Australia Market Flow (NZ & AU market flow), prepared 6 August 350,000

AU AU WH NZ AU Retail NZ AU Wh

300,000

There is no doubt the Australian market will be a testing one this season. The reality is that the market will need to grow in consumption by about 30% this summer to take the increased volumes without serious market depreciation.

To strengthen the demand for our fruit, both the industry and the individual export groups alike will be pushing the promotional activities in Australia with strong investment and multiple promotional events. All opportunities to build on the consumption of avocados will be taken.

Our relationships with export markets further afield will help to offset the challenges we face in Australia.

Where possible, we are striving to increase the volume of fruit that we’re shipping to markets like the USA, Japan and Asia. To do that, we need the support of growers to follow all the technical advice to ensure their fruit is safe for consumption and all-market ready when it’s picked. Sound orchard management must be maintained throughout the season and everyone needs to be crystal clear on when the time is right to harvest so we can maintain a seamless supply of fruit to markets all

250,000

200,000 Weekly volume in TE's

It’s absolutely essential that as much fruit as possible is moved away from the October to December period, as the sharing of crop volume information between Australia and New Zealand exporters has clearly identified this timeframe as a period of potential oversupply. All growers must work with their exporters to minimise the flow of fruit into this period.

150,000

100,000

50,000

0

30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 ISO week

around the world, all of the time.

The volume of fruit we are predicting in 2014 can fit into the marketplace successfully if we all keep a close eye on what’s being shipped and adjust our flow plans accordingly. To support this, exporters are having regular meetings to discuss market conditions

“It’s absolutely essential that as much fruit as possible is

and volumes. AVEC will be revising flow plans on a fortnightly basis. We cannot successfully make these initiatives work for us without the support and information flow from growers and packers alike.

moved away from the October to December

We have all the strategies and early warning information to avoid market collapse. It’s now up to the New Zealand industry to use that information wisely and work together as a collaborative, cohesive unit.

period”

The developing markets for New Zealand are being pushed to capacity this season and with everyone’s cooperation, we can all get over the finishing line with a good result.

Avoscene September 2014

l

9

Comment

Outside the Box Tom Clark, NZAPF Executive

tom@fnpack.co.nz

The industry Spray Diary is a useful and necessary tool in your avocado business.

Keeping it up to date is vital for harvest planning and ensuring that your fruit meets importing country requirements.

Dear (Spray) Diary, Updating your AIC electronic spray diaries after the big job of a pesticide spray or fertiliser application is a task that is often viewed as a chore. It’s just another tedious job on the list of seemingly endless compliance demands that take time away from the real job of growing avocados. This view is fair enough, but what you may not realise is that the correct use of your spray diaries sure does help to get your fruit to market – and the market is where the real money is made.

For your packers and exporters, whose reputation (and indeed very existence) depends on the ability to deliver safe, high quality avocados to the correct market specifications, the electronic spray diary is an essential tool.

To give some background, the early workings for an electronic spray diary were developed by Apata, which eventually approached the Avocado Industry Council (AIC) for industry use. The AIC Board quickly

10

l

Avoscene September 2014

saw the value of the resource to cover emerging food safety requirements and also export legalities around the Export Marketing Strategy (EMS), hence the “declaration” box that you have to tick when you enter in a spray. Some local body authorities now also reference the spray diary in their district air plans.

Adopting the electronic model was a smart move by the AIC, as this job would have been left to individual packhouses and so there would have been a mixture of different systems, paper and electronic, which could have caused real headaches for exporters - not least from the potential of being exposed to harmful levels of agrichemicals that were not properly flagged. By standardising the system and bringing it in-house, the AIC assisted the avocado industry in keeping control of this critical point of avocado production.

As a packer, part of my job is to go through our grower spray diaries each week to determine which and when orchards can pack for certain markets. This information is then relayed to the exporter, who will order picking

Comment

“Your humble electronic spray diary may look like some kind of retro website from the 1990s, but it serves a very important function in helping us to pack your fruit for the right markets.”

and packing for that market.

With the increasing need for our exporters to supply avocados further afield and explore new markets, it is critical that the fruit entering those markets is compliant with the residue requirements each country has set.

Each country has their quirks with regard to their WHPs (Withholding Periods) and MRLs (Maximum Residue Limits), for example the USA is highly sensitive to the use of Lorsban (Chlorpyrifos) and Japan is sensitive to the use of Paramite (Etoxazole). However arbitrary they may seem, it helps to remember that these decisions are made at a regulatory level by government agencies and we have to abide by them if we want to enjoy the returns from these markets.

The electronic spray diary actively highlights to packers, prior to verification, any spray applications that continue to not meet the MRL and WHP associated with the active ingredient applied for a specified pick date.

I should also point out that spray diary verification is an EMS requirement for packers and a major non-compliance if we were to fail to complete the verification process.

The 2014 AIC Quality Manual has a new section 3.37 with the following best practice recommendation: “Spray diaries should be kept up to date with spray details being entered into the diary within seven days of the spray application. This is to assist the Packer and Exporter in assessing fruit suitability for market and picking dates.”

New Zealand packers will likely be applauding this inclusion, as the importance of the electronic spray diary in the use described above cannot be overstated.

It is very frustrating selecting growers for certain markets and booking them in for harvest, only to find on verification that they have entered another spray at the

last minute and are no longer eligible for the markets they were booked for. This creates havoc with flowplans.

Basically, the sooner an application is entered, the better.

Entering your spray applications correctly is also important. Residue tests are now commonplace both pre-harvest and on the packing line – and this is before it even leaves the country. A positive result from a New Zealand test over the MRLs for the destination market could lead to dumping, product withdrawals or, even worse, a recall situation. The cost of any of the above will hammer any potential returns.

The worst-case scenario is if the destination market tests the fruit upon arrival and the results are unacceptable.

The affected market could lose confidence in the New Zealand food safety process and close the market to New Zealand avocados altogether.

On the other hand, the “residue tests required” message that might come up in your spray diary could be due to a typo or a mistake in the entry of the rate of product in the diary. Experience has shown that it is easy to add an extra zero by mistake – which renders your spray application 10 times stronger than it probably was! This is an easy fix, but also a helpful reminder to doublecheck each entry.

One last tip: When you enter in your picking requests prior to each harvest, it is very helpful to get into the habit of ticking all of the markets that your spray diary will let you.You never know where in the world your fruit might end up.

So there you have it, your humble electronic spray diary may look like some kind of retro website from the 1990s, but it serves a very important function in helping us to pack your fruit for the right markets.

This in turn helps us to sleep at night.

Thanks for that, Dear Diary.

Avoscene September 2014

l

11

Comment

New Zealand Market Glen Dunseath, Business & Marketing Manager, Zeafruit

glen@zeafruit.co.nz

Growers will need to be proactive this season if there is any hope of maintaining the record values of the past two seasons. It is vital to understand the market conditions and the programme fruit is being sourced for before picking.

There has been some interesting discussion during the last 8 to 10 weeks; much of it focused on how easy it is for the New Zealand market to drop value without cause, reasoning, or logic.

“Ensure your fruit is heading to a company that will ripen it, with a definitive customer destination already in place�

12

l

As a New Zealand market group we focused upon starting the season well, ensuring co-operation with industry standards around dry matter tests, focusing on ripening to ensure our consumer eating experience was positive, and being proactive with promotional activity.

New Zealand Avocado assisted by offering to pay for early season tests that passed the standards.

This is not the place to mention names or criticise companies but everyone knows who was responsible and growers need to make positive, proactive, and value based decisions in order to minimise the impact that these companies are having upon local market returns.

Looking forward to the coming export season, it will be interesting to see how much fruit heads to the local market given the weather extremes across July. This factor alone could have a significant impact upon how we approach the coming months and what steps are discussed to manage crop size and fruit flow into the

What we got was a mixture of the good and the bad the good was well planned, well managed, and focused on the points that we as a group had documented as important. The bad was the opposite - oversupplied large volumes of green unripened fruit, no customer buy-in or planning, and an eating experience that I doubt encouraged consumers to have another go.

market. It is important that New Zealand marketers

The outcome was simple - OGR value was reduced to levels that were not viable for the period, retail values dropped to levels that made no sense for July, and retail stores were littered with green avocados that slowed sales and ensured the problem was prolonged.

company that will ripen it, with a definitive customer

Avoscene September 2014

have good communication with their export partners to ensure they are fully up-to-date with these issues.

The message remains simple for the coming couple of months - be proactive with your promotional activity, communicate early and well, make quality a prerequisite and not a target, and ensure your fruit is heading to a destination already in place. These may sound very simple and basic common sense points but not all marketers have customer relationships that allow that in day-to-day reality.

Martin Munro, Chairman, NZOAG Inc.

Comment

Certifiably Organic martin.jane.munro@gmail.com

My thoughts are with Northland growers affected in the July storms. Dealing with what Mother Nature dishes out reminds me that organic and conventional growers share a common bond.

NZOAGI members during a recent visit to Geoff and Leny Leong’s orchard, Allport Road, Paengaroa.

From left to right: Ross and Sue Drost,Valerie Haugh, Julie Taylor, Geoff Leong, Martin Munro, Jane Munro, Brett Taylor and Peter McVeigh. Also attending the day but not present in the photo was ThelmaWilliams, Tui Neill, Leny Leong, Judy Prior, Graeme Reid and GlynnWilliams.

I am packing my bags and travelling up north to Paihia to the NZAGA & AIC Annual General Meeting to speak to the remit I submitted on behalf of the NZOAGI executive - That the NZAGA include in their strategy going forward a research and marketing strategy for organically grown avocados.

By the time you read this article, the outcome will have been decided by growers. I thank those who supported this remit, in particular the conventional growers I have spoken with who have embraced the idea. Because our number is small, the outcome will be in the hands of the conventional community. For those not attending the AGM, the main points of my position for growers to vote ‘yes’ to the above remit are: • There is growing demand for organic produce worldwide - nutrient dense food, environmental concerns.

•C ontinued collaboration across all sectors of the New Zealand avocado industry, including organics, is important to push industry growth going forward.

• “Adding some science” to organic methods,

ideas and practices will provide advantages to all growers, plus could enhance the AvoGreen programme.

• Organic avocados are a prime example of a value added product.

• Organic growing is a sustainable method of production.

NZOAGI road trip On 15 August we held a road trip to visit orchards in the Eastern BOP. First stop was at Eco Logic Concepts, Pongakawa. Host Graeme Reid has an organic avocado orchard and a commercial facility which manufactures a range of seaweed extracts, compost teas and biological inoculants.

We stopped in at Paengaroa for lunch before heading to see Geoff and Leny Lenong’s orchard, which was planted with avocados 14 years ago. Recently the trees were pruned. Geoff and Leny have a mixed orchard of walnuts, avocado, macadamia nuts and have planted organic garlic. Our hosts provided us with a lovely macadamia nut afternoon tea.

Avoscene September 2014

l

13

For expert advice and grower discussion, join our experienced team at an upcoming field day.

Call (07) 573 0085 for more information. www.trevelyan.co.nz

14

l

Avoscene September 2014

News and views from your NZAGA Regional Representatives

Comment

Regional Roundup John Schnackenberg - At Large 18.08.14

The Katikati Growers met on a miserable night in July to discuss a number of things – local market, 2013 NZ and AU Avocado Growers’ conference cost and our new PGP – how will growers be involved?

The answer to the conference question is simple – we shared a small profit with our Australian partners – i.e., it made a modest surplus of a few thousand dollars.

There is no doubt the conference was successful and well received from both sides of the Tasman.

Unfortunately these events are not cheap to put on ‘professionally’. A lot of effort went into keeping costs down for growers, although it is acknowledged that many felt it was too expensive for them, but it is an investment in your business.

Just how growers will interact with the PGP programme over the next four years will be covered off in general at the upcoming Forums and undoubtedly in detail in forthcoming AvoScene publications.

An issue we battle with is always early season local market fruit, a proliferation of which was about by mid July, often not meeting grower expectations – just what are our consumers thinking? You can ask what the growers, packers and marketers were thinking responsible for this dubious fruit, but the dilemma remains if it met the ‘independent’ test criteria, then perhaps the test is at fault?

There was an extensive conversation on early season fruit quality, independent dry matter tests and their reliability. The Avocado Industry Council had offered to pay the costs of successful fully independent maturity tests but that in itself may not be the answer.

We discussed whether a 20 fruit sample was sufficient and whether allowing some under the target was sensible – kiwifruit growers provide a 90 fruit sample and none can fail. We wondered whether maturity areas should be more tightly defined, e.g., no more than 1ha per test, preventing a whole orchard being picked off a 20 fruit sample. We wondered if we should move from dry matter testing to oil testing

(significantly more expensive).

What are your thoughts? Interestingly there have been no recent submissions to the Quality Standards Working Group seeking review of dry matter testing, suggesting growers are all happy?

A couple of potential marketing initiatives I would be interested in feedback on are developing the idea of a National Avocado Week to be a central focus of the extensive public relations activity we currently undertake and re-energising the previous quality Mark concept to raise the bar on local market quality.

Board activity: We have just come out of an independently facilitated (Institute of Directors) Board Review process and a Strategy Review Day, both of which were very positive from my perspective.

The strategy is pretty much set in concrete with our five year plan expanding into the activities enabled within the PGP partnership together with the MBIE and Plant & Food Research support for our research programme.

We talked the headline objectives through and tinkered with some wording – in my opinion definitely clarifying our intentions – but otherwise confirming we are very comfortable with what we have.

I was up for re-election this year and considered standing down but have committed to another term.

Part of our Board review process considered our succession planning. We need to develop a new layer of up-and-coming growers with an interest in participating at the sharp end of what is one of the best product groups in New Zealand horticulture. In the absence of nominations other than one for me and Tony Ponder (also due for re-election) we have both been elected unopposed. I can take that as a back handed compliment but please, if you are or know of someone who might be interested in joining our board, let us know. We are very keen to nurture new talent!

continued...

Avoscene September 2014

l

15

Comment

Regional Roundup

Roger Barber - At Large 01.08.14

At the time of writing, Northland was mopping up after the third, and most severe, storm of the current winter season. Avocado orchards in the Far North and Mid North (Whangarei and Mangawhai) were hard hit and suffered significant storm damage.

The Far North was worst affected; buffeted by strong easterly winds, which uprooted trees, stripped canopy leaves and shoots, and dropped much of the new season’s crop. For the mid North, although suffering some similar damage from cyclonic winds, it was largely a rainfall event. In two months it rained for 45 days, with over 735mm recorded in Whangarei. For most of the surrounding district, over 1000mm of rain fell in the months of June and July, which represented approximately two thirds of the average annual rainfall.

Rainfall for the region was the highest on record since 1946.

An early estimate of losses to the avocado industry from the two day storm was put at $13.5 million, representing a 30% loss of crop. Fruit are continuing to drop as the soil remains waterlogged and root systems cease to operate due to asphyxiation. The full extent of damage to fruit remaining on the tree will not be known until export packouts begin. Following subsequent crop estimation overall production is only down slightly.

Advice to storm ravaged avocado growers, once felled trees and damaged shelter has been cleared away, is to focus on soil drainage and root health, with phosphonate stem injections a top priority for August. Canopy damage

16

l

Avoscene September 2014

through leaf stripping and loss of replacement shoots could be offset by pruning to encourage new vegetative growth. Also additional side dressing with fertiliser, mainly nitrogen and potassium, were recommended to compensate for nutrient lost by leaching, encourage new replacement growth, and improve fruit size and quality.

One of the big challenges to the industry is to persuade growers against the temptation to sell storm-damaged avocados or windfalls off the ground. This not only breeches Food Safety protocols, but is also damaging to the wider industry.

Fruit blown off the trees which has been in contact with the ground is more likely to have suffered bruising and develop fruit rots during ripening. Furthermore the fruit, especially from the mid North, had not yet reached the level of maturity required for harvest and sale. Such immature fruit have a negative impact on the market and will result in a poor eating experience for consumers.

On a brighter note, two successful, well attended field days on pruning and tree training were held in each of the Far North and Whangarei districts.

The objective in canopy rejuvenation was to maximise light interception using a variation from the traditional open centre system developed by Alan Hedge, initially in the Bay of Plenty, but now starting to be trialled in other districts with good effect. This innovative approach to canopy development created much interest to those growers that attended.

Comment

David French – Rest of New Zealand 18.08.14

South Auckland appears to have come through the stormy July with minimal damage and we are now preparing to start harvesting.

I was out of the country for most of July and was disappointed to hear on my return that the local market had been badly affected by a large volume of apparently low quality fruit.

Why do some growers and or marketers keep doing this and why do the rest of us put up with it?

I believe our maturity sampling process needs revising and tightening up.

Let me compare avocado maturity sampling with what happens for Zespri kiwifruit.

1. Sample size Avocados - 20 fruit export & 10 fruit NZ market Kiwifruit - 90 fruit 2. Where is the sample fruit picked from?

Avocados - North Eastern side of tree at about shoulder height Kiwifruit - Vine is split into nine areas and 10 fruit picked from each area (90 different vines)

3. What characteristics do we test for?

Avocados - Dry matter Kiwifruit - A combination of three different characteristics which vary depending on variety of Kiwifruit being tested: - dry matter - seed colour - flesh colour - brix - core disorder 4. How big can a maturity area be?

Avocados - By ppin, so in theory a 100 hectare orchard with 200,000 trays (about 12 tonnes/ha) could clear to harvest with one 10 fruit sample.

Kiwifruit - Maturity area limited by volume, maximum of 40,000 trays which in kiwifruit could be as little as 2ha.

5. Who collects the sample?

Avocados - Export, Agfirst. New Zealand market, grower/packhouse.

Kiwifruit – Agfirst.

So there are many differences.

I would be interested to hear what other growers think?

John Cotterell – At Large 17.08.14

As I write this article we are having another beautiful day in the Bay; no wind, clouds or rain with the sun shining brightly, like a perfect spring day. Fingers crossed we get plenty more of these over flowering!

Every avocado growing region in New Zealand has been at the mercy of the weather at some stage this winter.

The old saying that we never get two seasons the same holds true again. Northland was hammered by sustained wind and rain over a number of days, with some Far North growers without power for almost five days. The BOP also had easterly gales over a much shorter time

frame and of lesser strength, plus heavy frosts which damaged trees in frost prone orchards.

While we have fruit still on our trees, there is always a risk until it is picked and packed, but then it’s left to the marketer you have chosen to do their job right for you to get an acceptable return over the long term. By this I mean choosing someone that takes a long-term view and that supplies fruit into markets in a controlled and measured way. Last season’s returns weren’t just good luck but having the right systems in place and planning to make the most of the opportunity by flow planning,

continued...

Avoscene September 2014

l

17

Comment

Regional Roundup

continued...

which does not involve shipping and hoping. It’s great to see the New Zealand and Australian avocado industries will be sharing information and marketing to help flow what will be the biggest crop ever sold over an Australian summer (2014-15). This decision will benefit avocado growers on both sides of the ditch.

Growers need to be mindful that New Zealand exporters will be supplying the largest number of export markets ever, in an ever-expanding portfolio of markets other than Australia. This also means that spray

selection will be critical, as having fruit available that is all-market compliant is essential. If you are not sure which spray option to use, contact your packhouse.

In the Bay fruit size is variable over most orchards and from what I have seen in Northland theirs looks similar, but in saying that some orchards do have some very big fruit. Export packing is just starting to get underway because of very slow rising dry matter levels; this could be to do with the actual crop loads as there are some very heavy crops over all regions.

Ian Fulton - Far North 17.08.14

The Far North was particularly dry and warm during late autumn, but Mother Nature has a way of balancing the ledger and from mid-June onwards winter hit with a vengeance, including a prolonged easterly storm event in early July.

Such storms are not unusual and occur every two to three years, though this storm had some of the strongest winds that long-term residents had experienced and caused widespread downing of trees and loss of power to most of rural Far North.

Residents on the Aupouri Peninsula (Awanui north) were without power for more than four days.

All orchards sustained minor to moderate damage, including avocado and shelter trees tipped over plus varying amounts of crop loss. For the Far North region as a whole, the crop loss is estimated to be in the range of 5-10%, as well as the likely reduction in export pack-out of the retained crop due to wind rub.

This season is looking likely to be the largest crop New Zealand has produced and growers need to work closely with their exporter and associated packer, and pick according to an agreed flow plan. With the large

18

l

Avoscene September 2014

New Zealand and West Australian crops both targeting the eastern Australian market, there is a real potential for market collapse without disciplined flow planning.

It is also essential growers plan their spray programmes with an emphasis on having all-market access at the time of picking. This will allow exporters to optimally flow a significant portion of the crop outside the Australian market, thereby gaining the maximum returns for all growers.

Tree decline significantly impacts the whole New Zealand industry and is the main issue affecting productivity in the Far North, particularly on older orchards. A research activity on tree decline that sits under the PGP programme has recently commenced and is expected to run for the next five years.

A working group of Far North growers has been formed to work with researchers and rural professionals, with an initial focus of testing diagnostic methods to identify the factors causing tree decline.

From the diagnostic work, remedial options will be identified and proved-up on orchards and best practice guidelines developed.

Comment

Grower Letters s from well advice and observation ’ featuring some sound ess sin Bu st control y fro ost ‘Fr for ed d) icle titl dup is name y 2014 contained an art te (in the article, Roun osa ph gly of t ‘the tha use ing the The last Avoscene of Jul is say his advice is quoted as dsay Heard. Amongst l near avocado trees. He ica em ch rate with s e thi sam of known consultant Lin the use sed to the glyphosate at some growers are oppo alth’ and that he sprays he e tre to k ris y an and he mentions that t es not presen 100 litre dilution) do small volume used (1/ /100litre. the opposed and/or Pulse penetrant at 75ml I wish to point out to t bu rs we up gro st mo of glyphosate (Round ard usage for probably pretty stand tank mix then your use are the es to rat ce/ ded ely cti ad rem is pra a ext ve ure The abo spray acts as an t user) that if ea when added to the te (and I am a reluctan Ur osa y. ph cac gly effi of of a rs s of use los t nt reluctan a tiny amou be halved with no dant. I still like to add ion you wish to use) can brand) becomes redun ver ate or whichever formulat wh ent works as well as (or erg t det an ld etr ay of any househo a bonus Pulse pen as spr d of an es t an litr 0 etr /10 pen ml nt efficie ades that about 20 ve found over five dec sticker/spreader and ha d.

3 litres of the dearest you can fin ur tank. E.g. If you use phosate you put in yo gly of nt ou am the th u add wi equate the amount yo For urea usage, simply kg of urea. tell you is that I have glyphosate then add 3 vious reasons). All I can ob r (fo ve d abo the fe er to vouchsa ive ingredient is halve a as the amount of act to find any spray suppli ide ely the lik un on y n ver kee y be ll ver wi You e decades and am this practice for over fiv successfully followed ly upsides. often than I would with no downsides, on but I do use it (more l tro con st fro th wi aid not use glyphosate to atively frost free so I do NB: Our orchard is rel and at half a.i. rates ed. prefer) to control weeds u won’t be disappoint a tank load yourself; yo Try . ng ayi spr m fro g tree root damage I trust I am minimisin Dave Routley, Grower, Whangarei

Avoscene September 2014

l

19

Newsroom

Newsroom

Annual Report released The NZ AGA and AIC Annual Report for 2014 is now available and was sent to all PPIN holders with AGM documents in July. The report includes industry and project highlights, avocado production and export statistics and a summary of financial statements for the year ending

30 April 2014. All industry stakeholders are encouraged to keep up-to-date on industry developments through these reports and other industry updates.You can find a full set of accounts for the year on the industry website: About > Funding > Financial Reports.

Patrick wins Young Grower of the Year award Patrick Malley, an avocado and kiwifruit grower from Northland, has taken out the titles of NZ Young Grower of the Year and NZ Young Fruit Grower of the Year, as well as an range of awards on the night including best speech and leadership panel.

After being named the Bay of Plenty Young Fruit Grower in June, the 30-year-old contracting manager/ director from Onyx Capital orchards won the national title during a day of competition and an awards ceremony in Christchurch on August 14. Patrick was

eligible to enter the Bay of Plenty competition because Northland doesn’t have a Young Grower competition of its own.

Finalists went head-to-head on a range of challenges from orchard budgeting and environmental sustainability to more practical in-field exercises like building a squash bin and repairing an irrigation pump.

During the final stages of the award, competitors had to participate in a leadership panel discussing the role of associate directors of grower boards to the industry and present a three-minute speech on “The best growers are...”.

The other finalists were Steve Thomas, of Riwaka, kiwifruit new variety manager and coolstore manager for Thomas Bros; Brett Parker, of Pukekawa, assistant crop manager for Hinemoa Quality Producers; and Graeme Hodges, of Havelock North, orchard manager at Rutherglen Orchard.

New Zealand Avocado would like to congratulate Patrick on his success and wish him all the best as he goes on to compete further at the Young Horticulturist of the Year competition in November.

20

l

Avoscene September 2014

Te Puke avocado growers scoop the top prizes in inaugural AVOCO awards Newsroom

Robbie Moore, John Carroll – AVOCO, Julene Moore, AlistairYoung - AVOCO Two neighbouring Te Puke avocado orchardists whose export crops were wiped out three years ago have bounced back to be judged AVOCO’s top operators for 2013-14.

The awards were announced at AVOCO’s inaugural grower conference in Auckland, where 200 growers gathered to hear AVOCO unveil its marketing plan for the 2014-15 season and the latest avocado research and technical advice.

AlistairYoung – AVOCO, Ashby and LindaWhitehead

with administrative issues.

The Moores own a 3.9ha block of mature Hass avocado trees and last season exported 32.8 tonnes per hectare.

They were also judged Team Avocado award winners in 2005-06 and 2007-08 but Robbie, a former Rotorua sharemilker, says the latest win was extra special.

“Many other growers had a great first season under AVOCO so it’s quite an honour.”

Their Gridley Road neighbours, Ashby and Linda Whitehead, won Team Avocado Grower of the Year.

The win also recognises the effort that went into recovering from a disastrous 2012-13 season as a result of a polar blast that swept through Te Puke in August 2011. During one night temperatures dropped to -5degC which burnt flower buds and split fragile stems on trees, destroying any chance either the Moores or Whiteheads had to produce an export crop the following year.

Judges from the two exporter groups which make up AVOCO – Primor and Southern Produce – took into account production figures, export pack-out achieved, fruit size profiles and growers’ accuracy and timeliness

Ashby, exported 31.8 tonnes per hectare last season and says despite the July storms which wreaked havoc on some Northland orchards, most growers are still feeling optimistic about the future.

The company’s top growers were honoured in the evening with orchardists Robbie and Julene Moore of Te Puke winning two awards – Primor Grower of the Year and the inaugural supreme trophy, AVOCO Grower of the Year.

Avoscene September 2014

l

21

Newsroom

Newsroom

Seeka secures exciting new avocado variety Seeka has announced that it has successfully negotiated and signed an exclusive New Zealand license with Westfalia Fruit Estates Pty Ltd, to grow and market the new ‘3-29-5’ variety of avocado, marketed under the trademark Gem™.

From the extensive in-plantation testing carried out in California and South Africa, it is known that Gem™ fruit typically grows in the inside of the tree, mostly in clusters, protected from sunburn and wind damage. The tree’s growth habit is semi-compact, making it easier to manage, especially for higher density plantations.

Gem™ fruit has favourable size, typically being slightly larger than ‘Hass’.

Research also indicates Gem™ trees may be less susceptible to alternate bearing with, fruit quality and taste being described as exceptional by independent European-based tasting panels.

Seeka avocado manager Dr Jonathan Dixon considers

the license strategically important to the New Zealand avocado industry.

“The fruit quality is good and the alternate bearing problem typical to the New Zealand avocado Industry may be alleviated with this variety. It provides an excellent consumer proposition and, if marketed correctly, could deliver very appealing returns to a grower.”

Seeka CEO Michael Franks advised that the Gem™ license is a longer term strategic play by the company.

“We must now commercialise the variety from a very small base to more than 50 hectares grafted and in production as soon as possible. Our commercialisation plan will see us firstly offering the variety to growers who supply Seeka and AvoFresh before taking the variety wider.”

Source http://www.freshplaza.com/article/125161/Seeka-secures-

New Faces Brad Siebert - Biosecurity & Programme Manager New Zealand Avocado has recently appointed Brad Siebert as Biosecurity & Programme Manager.

In previous roles Brad has worked for the Ministry for Primary Industries within the analysis and risk profiling group, as biosecurity manager for Kiwifruit Vine Health and has recently returned from Australia where he was Programme Manager, Biosecurity Planning and Implementation for Plant Health Australia.

Many of Brad’s roles have included working with growers and industry groups, developing industry biosecurity plans, and facilitating stakeholder collaboration on biosecurity efforts.

22

l

Avoscene September 2014

As well as biosecurity, Brad will be overseeing the implementation of the $8.56 million Primary Growth Partnership “Go Global” plan which aims to treble avocado orchard production to 12 tonnes a hectare and quadruple industry returns to $280 million by 2023.

With a 15-month-old son and another baby on the way, Brad and his veterinarian wife Erin decided it was time to return to New Zealand to be closer to family. Brad is delighted to have joined the AIC in a role which so closely fits his skill set.

Recommended reading

By Phillip West

focus for everyone in the industry and our thoughts go out to those growers that have been affected.

Based on knowledge from growers that have experienced several severe storms in the past, we have developed a draft

Mngt > Weather Events & Climatic issues

Newsroom

Storm recovery The storms that have hit the country recently have been a big

We would like your feedback to make this guide relevant, as comprehensive as possible, easy to use.

If you have any feedback, please get in contact with me by emailing: phillip.west@nzavocado.co.nz Shelter

Storm Damage Decision Guide.

NZ Avocado staff travelled to Whangarei to meet with growers with prior experience of storm damage to investigate what they did to help their orchards recover. The outcome of these discussions was the development of a guide to help growers quickly assess their trees and make action plans to deal with any damage.

The guide takes you through how to assess damaged trees and what to do with them to minimise the impact on orchard productivity. The strategy and goals of each individual orchard will of course need to be factored in to any final decisions made by growers.

We have also recorded several videos of damaged trees that had been assessed by the group, explaining what was factored into the assessment and what the final decision has been with each tree. We hope to edit these videos and make them available on our website soon.

The draft guide was sent out in a recent Avoconnect but it can also be found on the industry website under Orchard

The recent storms have probably caused some people to have a closer look at their shelter as well, so I’m also recommending a paper looking at how windbreaks can alter the microclimate within an orchard: “Orchard Microclimate as Modified by Windbreaks: A Preliminary Investigation” from the South African Avocado Growers’ Association Yearbook 1993. 16:59-64 The paper looks at how shelter influences wind speed, temperature, evaporation, humidity.

This work was a preliminary trial and so wasn’t replicated across different orchard blocks and, of course, the conditions in New Zealand will be different to those in South Africa where the work was done. However, it’s expected the general principles would hold true. Hopefully it provides some food for thought when thinking about the shelter in your orchard.

The paper can be found by searching for the title at the Avocado Source website http://www.avocadosource.com/ search.asp

Reading your trees Below are the key tree characteristics as set out in your Reading Your Trees Guide to assess at this time of year: • October to November: Leaf drop, pages 9-10 • October to December: Spring flush, pages 11-15 • September: Roots, pages 28-29 • September: Canopy density, 30-31 Once your trees have been assessed, you will be ready to consider the suggested intervention strategies. At the bottom of each section in this

guide there are a number of factors to consider to optimise your orchard management.You will need to determine which is the best option for your own situation – if in doubt, seek specialist advice.

Download the Reading Your Trees workbook from the industry website under Resources > and select Orchard Management Guidelines from the drop down box. This workbook complements the Reading Your Trees guide and allows you to record your assessments.

Avoscene September 2014

l

23

Industry Matters

Newsroom

Government Industry Agreement for biosecurity The Government Industry Agreement for biosecurity readiness and response (GIA) is a new partnershipbased approach between industry and government to better manage pests and diseases that could impact on New Zealand’s primary industries. The GIA establishes an integrated approach to prepare for and effectively responding to biosecurity risks while ensuring that biosecurity decisions are made through consultation with industry stakeholders.

The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI), Kiwifruit Vine Health and NZ Pork have officially signed the GIA and the Avocado Industry Council is currently working with MPI and other industry groups to ensure that readiness and response management and cost sharing principles are practical and sustainable for the industry.

The GIA will allow industry to better prioritise and manage biosecurity activities yet it also requires the avocado industry to share in biosecurity readiness and response costs with government and other potentially affected industry groups. NZ Avocado is currently discussing any potential arrangements with MPI to help shape GIA policy and cost sharing agreements.

NZ Avocado will continue to consult widely to ensure all industry stakeholders are fully aware of their options and have the opportunity to formally vote in support of any new industry biosecurity arrangements.

Any questions relating to biosecurity within the industry can be directed to Brad Siebert, email: brad.siebert@nzavocado.co.nz

Top tips for being bee safe when spraying We are coming up to flowering, a critical time for the industry and also a time when Bees are at their most active in our orchards. Bees are threatened when chemicals are applied under the wrong conditions, so growers need to be careful when spraying their crops.

Remember the following best practice points when spraying during flowering:

Calendar of events NZAGA & AIC Board meetings • 9 October • 27 November

24

l

• When applying chemicals, read the label carefully and follow the instructions • Grass must be mown prior to application – thus removing as many flowers as possible from the orchard

Avoscene September 2014

• When applying an insecticide make sure the application is done within the recommended time frame before beehives are introduced into the orchard • When an organic or fungicidal product application is required during flowering, spray at times when bees are not foraging – before 8am and after 5pm and if possible use a low fan speed •C heck Willow shelters are not in flower before spraying – if they are, look at using an alternative product •K eep in contact with neighbours, especially when different varieties or crops are involved and pollination may coincide with insecticide applications

Avocado news from the world Institute warns of avocado industry’s eco impacts metric tons (MT) of pesticides and 30MT of chemical fertilizers were used in the area, and were polluting groundwater supplies, potentially posing a risk to human health.

INIFAP’s Uruapan branch in the country’s biggest avocado-producing state of Michoacan has claimed 690 hectares of forests are being lost annually to make way for more farmland. It added half of the region’s forests have now been lost, which is likely having adverse impacts on local biodiversity, water abstraction, and soil nutrient conversation.

Mexico’s total avocado exports have been growing rapidly, and reached US$794 million in the first half of this year. Martínez reportedly said while there has been huge economic benefit from the increased productivity, the growth has come at the expense of the local environment and work should be done to improve agricultural practices.

The regional INIFAP branch also alleged that the 450

Source www.freshfruitportal.com

Newsroom

A regional department of Mexico’s National Institute for Forestry, Agriculture and Livestock (INIFAP) has raised concerns over the negative impacts of a particular area’s expanding avocado sector is having on the environment.

Low prices for Peruvian avocado in USA Avocado shipments from Peru to North America for this year has nearly quadrupled the volume reached last year, which has been accompanied by lower prices compared to its competitors and last season.

fruit receivers, the market is oversupplied with Peruvian fruit, especially large sizes, 48 and larger; Peru has even sent size 28, being the only provider that has supplied that size.

From week 18 to date, Peru has exported to the US about 4 times the volume exported at the same time last year, which has had a strong impact on the prices of avocados from that origin in that market.

Large size fruit does not reach good prices, causing that average prices per box of Peruvian fruit have fallen down below those of Mexico and California.

Although prices at the beginning of the season were similar to the prices of Mexican fruit, they have dropped every week reaching a difference of between 7 USD and 8 USD per box compared to the prices of Mexico and California.

According to what was mentioned by several USA’s

Some importers also mention that the condition of Peruvian avocado presents problems impeding that its prices reach the same prices of its competitors.

The average price for Peruvian avocado this season is 3.17% lower than the previous season.

Source www.freshplaza.com

Continued

Avoscene September 2014

l

25

Avocado news from the world

Newsroom

Campaign aims to increase consumption The California Avocado Commission (CAC) has extended its program promoting the use of California avocados at breakfast with retail support materials, public relations outreach featuring registered dietitians spokespersons and digital media.

“Initiatives like our breakfast campaign are positioned to successfully expand usage of California avocados in support of overall category growth,” said Jan DeLyser, CAC vice president of marketing.

Other social media channels are part of the program, including Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest pages give bloggers and consumers the opportunity to share their love of California avocados for breakfast. The most popular types of dishes include avocados on toast, eggs cooked in or with avocados, breakfast baking with avocados, especially muffins, smoothies and breakfast sandwiches.

Source www.perishablenews.com

Sales surge regardless of economic landscape Avocado marketers say they think they finally have reached the kind of summit all commodities strive for.

Their product, they say, finds its way to consumers in good economic times and bad. There are some peaks and valleys, in certain sectors, but avocado demand continues to rise, marketers say. “I believe it shifts demand sometimes in which in lower economies we may see a decrease in foodservice demand, but an increase in retail since people tend to eat more at home,” said David Fausset, salesman/category manager with Oxnard, Calif.-based Mission Produce Inc. But even today, when the U.S. economy still has fits and starts, avocado consumption in restaurants has bounced back, Fausset said. Even when the global economy slid in 2008 and continued to plunge over the next couple of years, avocado sales stayed relatively strong, said Rob

Wedin, vice president of sales and marketing with Santa Paula, Calif.-based Calavo Growers Inc. The Irvine-based California Avocado Commission has tracked consumption trends close, and there never has been any cause for alarm, even in dire economic times, said Jan DeLyser, vice president of marketing for the commission. “Avocados have held their own throughout,” she said.”The versatility of avocados as well as being a fruit that is perceived as healthy and somewhat of an indulgence may also be factors in their continued growth.”

The U.S. has grown from 500,000 to 1.7 billion as an avocado market and may get to 2 billion pounds in this calendar year.

Source www.thepacker.com

Education keys success in avocado marketing Avocado sales continue to track upward, but marketers of the fruit say educating buyers, retailers and consumers about usage, storage and handling of the product continues. It’s important for retailers who carry both hass and green-skinned avocados to have an expert grasp on the differences between the two, said Jessie Capote, of J&C Tropicals in Miami.

26

l

Avoscene September 2014

Texas-based Mexican hass avocado marketing group says their organization works closely with retailers to pass along information on handling and customer education and has developed social media tools and several videos for retailers. That educational push will be part of Avocados From Mexico’s upcoming fall marketing campaign.

Source: www.thepacker.com

Avoscene September 2014

l

27

28

l

Avoscene September 2014

Pollination research update David Pattemore, Heather McBrydie, Brian Cutting, Brad Howlett. The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Limited

With several funding streams now supporting research into the pollination of avocado flowers in New Zealand, a considerable amount of work was conducted last spring.

Here Plant & Food Research report on some of the initial results, although many elements will need to be confirmed with further work this spring.

Plant & Food Research internal funding

in the day, such that the flowers would be open at night after temperatures below 7°C. With limited camera numbers, we were able only to conduct this work around a single Hass tree, so our results will need to be confirmed this year. While flowers on the northern and western sides of the tree closely matched the results from previous years, there was a trend for flowers on the southern and south-eastern sides to open earlier at given temperatures. This was a surprising result, as we would have predicted that flowers with less exposure to sun would have experienced a greater delay in opening.

This year we will confirm whether this is a general pattern exhibited by Hass trees.

Another element of our internally funded work this year was to assess how distances to pollenisers affected fruit yield. Using an amazing dataset from a grower who had recorded yields from individual trees in a block for four years, we were able to establish that, overall, trees close to pollenisers (Bacon and Zutano) produced higher yields.

This was especially apparent in two out of the four years, resulting in a higher total yield over four years for these trees. While we don’t know yet how typical these results are, they demonstrate how useful this tree-level data can be, as well as the fact that the benefit of pollenisers can be seen in multi-year totals. The next step for this project is to assess whether orchards with different polleniser distributions differ in their overall average productivity.

On the Orchard

In 2013 we aimed to investigate whether overnight temperatures and the resultant effect on flower opening varied around different sides of the tree. Our previous research has focused on the north side of trees, and demonstrated that cold overnight temperatures pushed the opening time of female Hass flowers later and later

We also trialled a new method last year for assessing fruit set rates across multiple trees. We marked two branches on each of 50 trees in a Katikati orchard and returned weekly to count flower numbers and fruitlets in different size classes. Although this was a methodological trial, we were able to establish that flowers were converted into fruitlets at roughly the same rate over the course of the flowering season. This method now allows us to assess variation in fruit set and fruit drop rates over the season, to identify whether particular weather conditions negatively affect fruit set and retention.

Above: A March fly (Dilophus nigrostigma), covered in avocado pollen, visits a malestage avocado flower.

Photograph by B. Cutting.

Alternative pollination systems MBIE programme The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) has provided a six-year research grant to develop alternative pollination systems for New Zealand growers. This project is supported by NZ Avocado, along with Zespri Group Limited, Summerfruit New Zealand, Heinz Watties and the Foundation for Arable Research.

The research on the use of artificial nest boxes for bumblebees is now covered by this MBIE programme. In the second year of the trial we again achieved an overall

Continued

Avoscene September 2014

l

29

“Bumblebees are the most obvious alternative pollinator, and we are well on the way to providing growers with tools to manage these species”

On the Orchard

occupancy rate of about 30% across the seven orchards.

However, the number of successful colonies was about half that of the previous year, probably indicating an environmental factor that reduced the survival particularly of the long-tongued bumblebees. We are now expanding the trial to 31 orchards and farms in four different types of crops across five regions, from Whangarei to Marlborough. This year we are trialling a new square design, along with new nest material.

Co-funding from NZ Avocado has allowed us to include four further avocado orchards; three near Whangarei and one in Katikati.

Another objective of the research programme is to identify key alternative pollinators that have the ability to make a significant contribution to pollination.

This allows us to build on previous work comparing honeybees with other avocado pollinators by identifying the species involved and measuring each species’ contribution. A wide range of bees, flies and beetles

30

l

Avoscene September 2014

visit avocado flowers (Figure 1). We assessed these species’ ability to deposit pollen on to Hass female flowers under ideal conditions, and found that a number of species can deposit significant amounts of pollen in a single visit. The next step this year is to quantify how much pollen these different species move from a polleniser to Hass in an orchard environment.

In the last few years we have made significant progress in understanding how avocados are pollinated in New Zealand. By understanding the complex relationship between temperature and the flowering cycle, we have identified that we need pollinators that are active across a broad range of times and weather conditions.

Bumblebees are the most obvious alternative pollinator, and we are well on the way to providing growers with tools to manage these species. As we identify other important pollinators, we will be able to provide advice on how to boost the contribution from these species as well.

Northland storm recovery Hamish Carter, Journalist, SunMedia

hamish@thesun.co.nz

Northland orchards were hit in July by a powerful storm with a checkboard of damage across the region. Some growers fared better than others due to proactive management practices.

On the Orchard

Industry losses from Northland’s July storm have been initially estimated at $13.5 million, but the Rural Support Trust is determined to help minimise the personal cost for orchardists.

Trust Northland coordinator Julie Jonker is urging any growers who are struggling to cope with the stress to get in contact by phoning 0800 787 254 for support, saying a disaster’s impact often only hits home after the immediate crisis has been dealt with.

“We want to stay in touch with growers. If people are really finding it difficult it’s important that they give us a call.”

Julie has been coordinating the support which has seen three Enhanced Taskforce Green crews cleaning up storm-affected properties on a three-month contract since late July. She says everyone has been grateful for the help – which had seen crews help on 18 blocks when Avoscene spoke to her.

Mid North grower rep Sue Culham was full of praise for the clean-up support coordinated by Civil Defence and Rural Support Trust and urged any growers with damage still needing to be cleared to register with the trust.

Sue was hesitant to compare the storm to previous events, with some hit worse than the big 2007 storm while others were hardly affected at all, but she says it certainly targeted east-facing orchards.

The storm’s high winds and heavy rains affected the Mid-North and Far North differently, with the Far North’s free-draining sandy soil minimising the rain’s impact. More trees were blown over and damaged by wind in the Far North, while pooling rain in the heavy soils around Whangarei was the major problem there.

Whangarei-based grower rep Roger Barber downplayed the psychological impact the storm would have, saying growers were a resilient bunch and used to fickle weather, but admitted the weather could be the last straw for growers who had been struggling.

After last year’s poor spring in Whangarei cut harvest returns, Roger says the loss of up to a third of fruit was particularly frustrating for growers. The estimated 30 per cent has been calculated based on initial fruit drop, wind-damaged stems and loss from poor tree health a few weeks later caused asphyxiated, water-logged roots.

Along with damage to the current crop, Roger says

Continued

Avoscene September 2014

l

31

“Among those counting their good fortune was Maungakaramea grower Ross Woods, who believes a severe prune last year helped him avoid the major losses he sustained in 2007’s big storm”

trees in waterlogged areas would suffer suffer from lower production in coming seasons after the roots were infected with the fungus phytophthora.

On the Orchard

“It’s the worst problem you can have; the rate of root growth slows right down and it’s become a particular problem around Whangarei.”

The extent of phytophthora in the soil could inhibit seedlings from growing to replace old or wind-felled

limited damage was from good luck or good management.

Along with taking his trees down from as high as 10m to 3m, he also took out the centre of the trees; reducing the weight they were carrying by about 20 per cent, another factor he believes helped minimise damage to trees and fruit loss (estimated four per cent total lost or damaged fruit, compared to a 10-20 per cent loss in his neighbourhood).

trees. However Roger was excited about the tolerance being shown by Dusa and Bounty rootstocks to cope with the fungus and encouraged growers to consider them if they needed to replace trees.

Trimming the surrounding shelter belt down from 18m to 10m, and thinning around the base of trunks helped make breaks more permeable, so the trees “weren’t smashed by a wall of wind”.

Among those counting their good fortune was Maungakaramea grower Ross Woods, who believes a severe prune last year helped him avoid the major losses he sustained in 2007’s big storm. While he had about 60 trees downed in the earlier event, he only had 12 blown over in July from his block of 2000.

Ross applauded work NZ Avocado was doing on developing a best practice document to guide post-storm orchard management to help growers to make the right decisions to deal with the impact of future storms, saying it was good to have as much information as possible when you have to make decisions in a hurry.

“I knew I had to do something to improve canopy

Tauranga-based NZ Avocado R&D Officer Phillip West says there has been strong support for the best practice document from the handful of growers who have shared their insights from previous storms, but says NZ Avocado was keen to hear feedback on the draft from all growers.

management because the trees were just getting too big,” says Ross.

“You get better spray coverage, lower picking costs and it helps cut storm damage. There are a lot of advantages,” he says, adding half-jokingly that he’s unsure whether his

“We are hoping it will act as a tool so growers can go onto the orchard and it will help them assess the trees: whether they pull them out, try to straighten them, or what they should do.”

Phillip says the document covers assessing orchard hazards and whether it’s safe, assessing the state of trees and what you need to help the orchard recover quickly, and information on the general issues that need to be dealt with to guide the response from support organisations such as the Rural Support Trust. Videos demonstrating how to assess trees would also be put up online. For more details on the storm see the Regional Roundup on pages 16 and 18.

32

l

Avoscene September 2014

Frost Protection Successfully protecting fruit crops for the last 10 seasons t Grapes, apples, stone fruits, persimmons, passionfruit, t t t t

avocados, tamarillos, citrus & kiwifruit 98% Protection down to -2°C (When applied as directed) Provides internal warmth giving an ‘early spring’ effect Adds 2 degrees to all other methods except Urea Effective immediately, gives up to 3 weeks protection ThermoMax is a non-chemical, Bio-Gro certified, ACVM exempt product. It leaves no residues HortResearch tested.

Report No. 10264

0800 735859 www.bdmax.co.nz

CONTROLLED RELEASE BORON FERTILIZER Increase your yield and strengthen your crop with OrganiBOR

Boron is an essential micro-nutrient •

Building cell wall structure

•

Organising pollen tube development

•

Orderly internal processes; sugar movement, creation of amino acids and proteins

•

Easily added with lime, fertiliser, slurry mixes or broadcasted on its own

ALLOWED INPUT 10982AI

Talk to us, it pays 0800 772 629 www.omnia.net.nz

OrganiBOR 1.2pg ad Sept 2014.indd 1

NEW ZEALAND CERT

TM

BFA REGISTERED PRODUCT

N U T R I O L O G Y *

*the science of growing

25/07/14 9:47 am

Avoscene September 2014

l

33

Identifying limiting factors Phillip West, R&D Officer, New Zealand Avocado phillip.west@nzavocado.co.nz Dr. Alvaro Vidiella, R&D Manager, New Zealand Avocado alvaro.vidiella@nzavocado.co.nz

New Zealand Avocado has begun a five year project to investigate factors which contribute to productivity. The following information outlines the project and reports some of the early progress and information being gathered.

What factors contribute to the productivity of a

On the Orchard

whole region dropping dramatically in a season? Why is my neighbour able to produce fifty per cent more fruit than me when their property is almost identical to mine? These are the types of questions the orchard analysis project will try to address.

The project will investigate what factors significantly contribute to the productivity of orchards, giving growers the tools to identify what factors may be limiting their own orchard performance. This type of information will be helpful in making those tricky investment decisions such as “Is it worth installing frost protection when we only occasionally experience a damaging frost?” or “How long will it take to see a return on investment if I install an irrigation system?”

The project is part of the MBIE programme “Avocados for Export” in which NZ Avocado is working in partnership with Plant & Food Research (PFR). Prior to starting this project we have reviewed the work of the Sustainable Farming Fund (SFF) project, carried out between 2001 and 2003, that looked at implementing

best orchard management practice. The orchard analysis project will function differently to the SFF work and aims to expand on it to directly compare orchards and gain an understanding of what factors are contributing to orchard performance.

The project will utilise currently available data as well as collect additional information from growers and rural professionals with the objective of: • I dentifying factors that are contributing significantly to the productivity of the orchards, including irregular bearing triggers at regional and orchard level.

With the targeted benefits to growers being: • Historical factors that contribute to low production will be identified for the main growing areas.

• Growers will learn how to identify these factors in their orchards, to estimate their potential to reduce production. This will inform future management strategies aimed at mitigating the effects of these factors.

• Identifying these factors will help direct resource allocation of the R&D programme more effectively.

The methodology of how and what data will be gathered is currently being developed with input from growers, rural professionals, NZ Avocado, PFR and other research providers. This multidisciplinary approach will ensure we gather all relevant data accurately and in a format that is suitable for the analysis we are planning to do.

Figure 1: Historic orchard production of six orchards in the Bay of Plenty area from the 2000-01 to 2013-14 seasons.

34

l

Avoscene September 2014

There are two main sources of information that we are exploring the NZ Avocado industry data base and information gathered by growers about their orchard. On top of this, we are also gathering types of information such as packhouse’s fruit size profile data, NIWA and other weather databases, soil maps, and other geographic data. We are also developing additional

protocols to gather information in the orchard, such as information about tree health.

The initial area being examined is in the Bay of Plenty and was chosen for its high variability in a number of areas and having orchards that are close enough together to provide good comparisons.

• There is a distribution of coastal, inland and higher altitude orchards.

• There are a range of different management practices being used, e.g. some orchards with irrigation and some without.

• There is a range of orchard ages with some having many seasons worth of data.

• There is a range of productivities from orchards within close proximity to each other.

As previously mentioned, the information gathering process is continuing to be refined but some of the information that has already been gathered has raised some interesting questions and avenues for further investigation. Already grower input from the first area being investigated has guided us to look into the differences in fruit size during dry years for irrigated and non-irrigated orchards. A relevant issue for the growers and one that may help inform future investment decisions.

On the Orchard

The analysis on the information we are gathering will have two stages. The first is a preliminary stage to explore the data for any obvious factors that affect productivity. This process will also identify any gaps in our information and whether we need to collect more detailed information about certain areas. The second analysis will be a more thorough statistical analysis to objectively identify which factors, or combination of factors, have the biggest influence on orchard productivity.

Figure 2:Three order polynomial trend lines of the historic orchard production of six orchards in the Bay of Plenty area from the 2000-01 to 2013-14 seasons.

Looking at the production history of six orchards in the area there are already several seasons in which there are interesting differences occurring between the orchards (Figure 1).

Despite all six of the orchards performing differently for the five years from the 2000-01 season to the 2005-06 season, all had a very low crop in the 2006-07 season.

Another interesting difference in the production history is in the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons when the orchard represented by the purple line goes out of phase with the other nearby orchards. In the 2012-13 season the orchard represented by the purple line has an on-year when the other orchards are having a significant offyear. Whatever this orchardist has done or whatever has happened to his trees seems to have reduced the irregular bearing of their orchard significantly.

If you look at the smoothed production history (Figure 2) of the orchards you see the orchard represented by the blue line has the highest production. Interestingly

Continued

Avoscene September 2014

l

35

this orchard does not irrigate whereas the orchard

year implying the trees were holding similar loads and

represented by the red line below does. If you

fruit size would not have been significantly affected by

looked at this graph alone you would probably

this.

think irrigation in this part of the BOP was not On the Orchard

worth the investment but as mentioned previously, growers noted that after last year being particularly dry, there was a question over fruit size being affected negatively in a non-irrigated orchard.

When comparing last season’s fruit size data for this non-irrigated orchard with that of a nearby irrigated orchard, you do see quite different fruit size profiles (Figure 3). However, the previous year which was normal, wetter, year showed little difference between the size profiles of both orchards. Both orchards had very similar yields to each other in each

We would need to see this correlation in more years and check that no other factors may be influencing this before reading too much into it, which is what we’re currently doing. If we do see a similar effect each time there is a dry year, this sort of information can feed into the growers’ investment decisions. If we know there have been three dry years in the last ten, you can do the sums to work out if having irrigation in those dry years to improve their fruit size profile would have yielded a return that paid off the initial investment and ongoing costs of the irrigation system.

Of course, these examples are very speculative but highlight the sorts of questions we can investigate once we have all the relevant data. As we all know, avocado orchards have a multitude of factors that influence their productivity, so often answers are not as clear cut as you initially think. However, we believe that the multidisciplinary approach of this project can gather the relevant data and start to mine the data we already have to tease out some of the more important factors in the different growing regions.

Once we have refined our methodologies, the next step will be to repeat this work in the different growing regions and expand our understanding of factors influencing orchard productivity.

If you have any questions of comments about the programme, please contact us.

Figure 3: Fruit size profiles of packed fruit from two non-irrigated orchards and one irrigated orchard for the last two seasons.The 2013-14 season, circled in red, was drier than the 2012-13 season, circled in blue. Blue and red lines highlight the differences in the proportion of fruit larger, and smaller, than 24 size between the non-irrigated and irrigated orchards in each season.

36

l

Avoscene September 2014

Spotless 1-2 pg ad Sept 2014.pdf

1

23/07/14

5:03 PM

C

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

K

ASK FOR A DEMONSTRATION OF NZ's FAVOURITE AVOCADO ORCHARD PTO CHIPPERS

2 0 1 4

PAYMENTS OVER

2 YEARS

*

0% INTEREST

OVER 2 YEARS

1 FREE BLADE SET

$

4,000

DEPOSIT

*Subject to Finance approval

5" and 9" ex‑demonstration and pre‑owned models available

CALL BEN

WWW.BEARCAT.CO.NZ

021 427 554 or 0508 36 77 83 Avoscene September 2014

l

37

Export season preview Elaine Fisher, Journalist, SunMedia

elaine@thesun.co.nz

Markets

The challenges of the season ahead have been well communicated across the industry and exporters believe they have the strategies in place to cope.

The 2014 avocado harvest will be a long one – its success depends on all sectors playing their part – it’s time to invest in new markets to cement the industry’s future. These are some of the key messages from the industry’s exporters this year.

Exporters are also advising growers to ensure fruit is suitable for all-market access and is of top quality, and harvested according to flow plans.

There’s greater communication between exporters to avoid the oversupply of the Australian market, which happened in the last big volume season of 2011-12.

International politics could play a role says Freshmax avocado programme manager Jarrod Redwood.

Russia’s ban on imports from the EU, America and Australia in retaliation to their sanctions over the situation in Ukraine has seen an increase in enquiries to Freshmax from Russia for New Zealand avocados, he says.

John Carroll of AVOCO says this season will be hugely

38

l

Avoscene September 2014

different from 2011-12.

“Three years ago there was a false belief that the Australian market was indestructible and would take any amount of fruit, despite the pre-season warnings.

The industry didn’t realise how fierce and punishing it could become when over-supplied.”

Individual exporters didn’t know enough about what others were doing. Now there is more communication between exporters.

“The structure and the mentality within the industry has moved on from three years ago.”

Tough year SeekaFresh manager Annmarie Lee is warning this will be a long season.

“We need to be harvesting right through until February to maximise grower returns. Control of harvest and quality of the fruit will be the key to returning a good result back to the growers.”

“There’s greater communication between exporters to avoid the oversupply of the Australian market, which happened in the last big volume season of 2011-12”

JP Exports Ltd general manager Lesley Shield believes it will be a tough year for growers. “There is more New Zealand fruit available than in 2011-12, on top of a large crop from Western Australia. Our customers are prepared as they can be for the influx of the New Zealand product.”

Andrew Darling of Just Avocados says growers should understand the cost of investing in poorer returning markets for the long term future of the industry.

“Growth in these markets is critical and if we try to over-supply Australia, we will end up with a situation potentially as difficult as 2011/12.”

Annmarie believes exporters are working together to understand the market and to look after the valuable Australian market by controlling the weekly volumes and supplying other markets at a lower return to protect Australian return.

Weekly conference Alistair says the Avocado Exporters Council (AVEC) has instigated a fortnightly flow plan revision to monitor harvest volumes, coupled with a weekly conference call amongst all exporters to discuss market conditions.

AVEC has combined crop estimates with Australia’s to get a combined volume picture.

Lesley says JP Exports Ltd is a small exporter but to play its part is not sending its whole supply to Australia.

“We will be co-shipping with two other exporters to Japan.”

“Australia is seen as New Zealand’s premium market but needs to be managed well in respects to volume flow and total market capacity in order to maximise the outcome and avert a market crash.”

John says Western Australia’s main supply will kick in during October and continue until January, which means local Australian fruit will meet New Zealand fruit head on.

“We will continue to supply Australia through the summer. We have a better opportunity with Australian customers this season than we did two years ago, when there was a strong preference for Australian grown fruit. Our performance last summer earned us a lot of credit that is helping us now.”

Markets

Southern Produce Ltd director Alistair Young says problems should only occur if flow plans are not followed or if sales are below expectation and product log-jams in the markets. “Then we will need to reduce flow to allow for market adjustment.”

Andrew says new market development is something the AVANZA group has been working hard on for the last eight years in preparation for a big year like this.

New markets Jarrod says Freshmax has increased its exports to Asia and is continuing to identify markets in the region.

They have also established a process grade programme to Australia which will not impact on class one fruit but will add value for growers.

Andrew says all exporters understand the challenging year ahead.

“Communicating well together and peer pressure between us all to get it as right as we can will feature strongly.”

John says this season a number of factors have changed, including the formation of AVOCO, which in conjunction with its relationship with two other exporters in AVANZA, now oversees around 85 per cent of the New Zealand avocado supply.

Avoscene September 2014

l

39

ATP

Std FEATURES  Compliance to AS-NZS 14.18.10  Continuous 360 o slew  Variable width and rating  22 deg rating @ 2.3m wide  25 deg rating @ 2.5m wide  Full proportional controls  Articulated booms  Large work envelope  Side levelling chassis  On screen slope readout  Cage load indication  Over slope alarm  Dual oscillating axles  ‘Bump’ reduction technology  Auto stabilise locks  4x4 (Hi-torque drives)  All drives include braking  Rough terrain tyres  Emergency descent  Multi failsafe  Auto/manual throttle  Diesel or Petrol engine  Hour meter  Cage cover  Easy cage access  Phone tray  200kg & 220kg SWL

OPTIONS Auto-level & Chassis slope Aux hydraulics Picking & implement bins Fore/back tilt 200 Variable width 2.3/2.5m

If terrain is a problem get an ATP CONTACT DETAIL Ph: Email: Web:

+64 (0)7 5490766 info@allterrainplatforms.com www.allterrainplatforms.com

OPERATOR COMMENTS

   

“regardless of terrain I know I am coming home safe at the end of the day” “with an ATP I can pick fruit I could never get at before” “you can drive over really big things and not even realise” “you always feel safe”

Markets

    

INCREASED PRODUCTIVITY AND SAFER ACCESS ON DIFFICULT TERRAIN ATPs have ‘bump’ reduction technology, chassis levelling, & auto-stabilisation

OPERATIONAL CHARCTERISTICS  The unique DOAS (Dual Oscillating Axles Suspension) system reduces the ‘bump’ effect of obstacles by up to 80%.  DOAS continuously auto-stabilises on-the-run, and when static.  DOAS also side levels (up to 20 degrees) the main chassis.  All directions Maximum operating Safe Slope limits of 25 degrees and 22 degrees (width dependant) will warn when exceeded.  All operating slopes and angles are displayed on the screen, as well as monitoring cage SWL (Safe Working Load).  The 360o continuous rotational slew is a feature that when used with the articulated booms, provides a massive ‘work envelope’.  Within the work envelope, ATP machines are recognised for their wide ‘outreach’. Up to 6.2m away from the base machine.  The outreach means the base machine does not need to enter the tree for fruit harvest or pruning, therefore no suffering of root structure damage beneath the tree canopy.  Perfect for Terraces.  Whilst the performance of many common access platforms fades significantly on slopes and bumps, ATP harvest performance can remain constant right out to the operational rating.  The drive system is 4x4 with high torque drives, and each drive includes braking, and counterbalance to stop run-away on hills.  Engine throttle is load controlled, which means the engine will automatically throttle to match only the load required. As a normal day brings many varied load cycles, this translates to significant fuel savings  The ATP Super series has a SWL (Safe Working Load) of 220 kg, and the ATP Lite series has a SWL 200kg.

THE SMART CHOICE! A PLANT GROWTH REGULATOR THAT… * * * *

Increases Fruit Size Higher marketable yield and profitability Premium grade fruit, less ridging Assists with canopy management

® Sunny is a registered trademark of Aquamarine BV.

40

l

Avoscene September 2014

www.grochem.co.nz

Avocado retail toolkit launched Bevan Jelley – New Zealand Market

bevan.jelley@nzavocado.co.nz

New Zealand Avocado recently launched the Avocado Retail Toolkit, a collection of resources co-developed with local marketers to help fresh produce retailers inprove their avocado offering to consumers.

New Zealand Avocado launched the Avocado Retail Toolkit at the Produce Marketers Association AustraliaNew Zealand (PMA-ANZ) Fresh Connections conference in June. The Fresh Connections conference and trade show is the leading fresh fruit and vegetable industry event in Australia and New Zealand and provided an audience of key influencers in New Zealand supermarkets, fresh produce retailers and fresh produce marketers.

The Avocado Retail Toolkit was co-developed by NZ Avocado and New Zealand marketers to help supermarkets and other fresh produce retailers develop the avocado category in their stores and encourage high turnover and consumption of good quality, ready to eat avocados.

The toolkit was received with a considerable amount of interest from retailers. To date orders have been filled from produce managers in every Pak n Save and New World supermarket in the South Island. A further 200 copies of the toolkit were supplied for the Foodstuffs conference in August to be distributed to North Island Pak n Save and New World produce managers.

The toolkit contains: • A retail handling, storage and display training video • A backroom handling guide for produce staff • Point of sale ripeness guides for consumers • Recipe booklets containing Nadia Lim avocado

Markets

Nadia Lim drew a lot of attention to the New Zealand Avocado stand at the conference, providing samples of the dishes from New Zealand Avocados Amazing Anytime consumer recipe booklet and speaking to delegates about the versatility and amazing health and nutrition benefits of avocados.

those supermarkets in industry events. We have had avocado category managers from Countdown, New World and Pak n Save supermarkets speak at the grower forums and the New Zealand and Australian avocado industry conference. At these events, retailers have spoken about specific issues and opportunities that avocados present to retailers. The Avocado Retail Toolkit has been co-developed in response to this feedback to provide retailers with resources to address their issues and improve their avocado offering to consumers.

recipe ideas for consumers • NZ Avocado promotions campaign information The resources from the toolkit can be viewed at the Retailers section of the New Zealand Avocado consumer website.

The toolkit outlines NZ Avocado’s nationwide promotions campaign for this season and provides resources to help retail staff store, handle and display avocados to maximise avocado sales.

For the past two seasons we have been working to establish relationships with the major supermarkets in New Zealand and involving the key influencers from

Avoscene September 2014

l

41

DuPont ™ DuPont Kocide Opti Kocide Opti

™ ®

® fungicide/bactericide

fungicide/bactericide

Better Protection, Better Protection, Less Copper ... Greener Footprint Less Copper ... Greener Footprint The elemental copper in Kocide Opti® is so active you only need a fraction of the amount used in other® copper formulations. In fact The elemental copper in Kocide Opti is so active you only need a when you use Kocide Opti®, you’re protecting your crops with a fraction of the amount used in other copper formulations. In fact fraction of copper per unit area. when you use Kocide Opti®, you’re protecting your crops with a fraction of copper per area.

So now you’re safe in unit the knowledge Kocide Opti® gives superior protection at the as beingKocide easy to handle, and pour, as ® givesmix superior So now you’re safesame in thetime knowledge Opti well as keeping to as a minimum. only that does as all protection at the foaming same time being easyNot to handle, mixbut andit pour, this while leaving a far smaller environmental well as keeping foaming to a minimum.

Not onlyimpact. that butEveryone it does allwins. this while leaving a far smaller environmental impact. Everyone wins.

www.dupont.co.nz www.dupont.co.nz

Always read and follow label directions. Registered Pursuant to the ACVM Act 1997. P7726 Copyright © 2009 DuPont. All rights reserved. Du Pont (New Zealand) Limited. 98 Kerrs Road, Manukau City, TM Always read and follow Registered to, The the ACVM Actof1997.

P7726 Auckland.

Phone 0800 65label 8080.directions.

The Du Pont Oval logo,Pursuant DuPontTM miracles science and Kocide Opti® © Copyright 2009 or DuPont.

All rights reserved.

Du Pontor (New Zealand) Limited. 98 Kerrs Road, Manukau City, are trademarks registered trademarks of DuPont its affiliates.

Auckland. Phone 0800 65 8080. The Du Pont Oval logo, DuPontTM, The miracles of scienceTM and Kocide Opti® are trademarks or registered trademarks of DuPont or its affiliates.

42

l

Avoscene September 2014

Avocentric - Tatara Orchard

By Elaine Fisher, Journalist, SunMedia

elaine@thesun.co.nz

It takes courage to buy a rundown avocado orchard – even more so when you know nothing about growing the fruit – but Louise Dinmore and Peter Woods did their homework before committing to Tatara Orchard at Kauri Point near Katikati.

Louise Dinmore and Peter Woods are the new owners of one of the Bay of Plenty’s oldest avocado orchards.

The couple, who were living in Auckland at the time,

“We had originally looked at dry stock farms in the Bay of Plenty, but hadn’t found what we wanted,” says Peter, who grew up on a sheep and beef farm and has been a shearer both here and overseas.

Reports

got advice from industry leaders and visited orchards brought back from ill-health before deciding to give it a go.

as a director of Red Stag Timber of Rotorua. Katikati appealed as a location for the couple’s new venture because it is close to Rotorua and Auckland, and has a favourable climate.

Daunting task However, the task ahead on the 12.56ha property they bought late last year was daunting.

Louise says they began looking at avocado orchards almost by default.

“Most of the trees were surrounded by avocado seedlings and weeds more than a metre high. Some of the smaller trees were almost smothered in weeds,” says Peter.

“We didn’t set out to buy an orchard but became interested once we started looking. We saw a lot which were too small to be economic, until we found this one.”

Many of the trees were sick, with yellow or very few leaves and the older trees were huge.

Louise has a background in accountancy, has operated a business and retains interest in the forestry industry

The orchard was established 40 years ago by one of the industry’s pioneers, the late Arthur Honeyfield, and still

continued...

Avoscene September 2014

l

43

“We’ve come to realise how well known and significant this orchard is in the district.

Almost everyone who comes to visit or work here knows something about the orchard”

has many of the original trees he planted.

productive orchard.

Around 9ha is in avocados, with the balance a home orchard and extensive grounds surrounding the homestead, which enjoys views across the Tauranga Harbour.

History advice

Among the first experts Louise and Peter asked for advice was Lindsay Heard of Brenmark Horticultural Consultants, who took them to visit the Athenree Improbe Orchard managed by Ross Fowler.

“When we saw the before photos and how the orchard looks now, we began to be confident our orchard could recover,” says Louise.

Reports

When the Improbe Partnership bought the 10ha Athenree orchard in 2010, the foliage on 80 per cent of the trees was yellow and the rest of the trees looked dead. Four years on, thanks to aggressive pruning, good management and nutrition, it has returned to a healthy

One hundred trees were removed from this block which will be replanted in avocados.

44

l

Avoscene September 2014

Hugh Moore of KauriPak – just up the road from Peter and Louise’s orchard – also gave advice, as well as extensive information about Tatara’s history.

Among the growers who have also helped are John Cotterell of Walkers Road West and Brian Robinson, whose Kauri Point orchard was once part of the larger Honeyfield orchard.

“We have been so impressed at how generous everyone is with their time and advice and willingness to help,” says Peter.

“We’ve come to realise how well known and significant this orchard is in the district. Almost everyone who comes to visit or work here knows something about the orchard,” says Louise.

“We like the fact that we are part of an industry which produces a high quality, nutritious fruit, especially at a time when the world demand for food is growing”

Contractor Mike Dillon was commissioned in December to prune the orchard and at first, as the ‘mountain’ of limbs and branches grew, Peter and Louise wondered just what they had done.

“It looked pretty extreme, and we had to work out an effective way of piling up all the material for mulching.

We used a bobcat to do that in the end,” says Peter.

Younger trees in one block were among those seriously pruned in December and by August they had re-established a healthy-looking canopy of shiny green leaves. The difference, says Peter and Louise, is stunning.

Drastic decision Other older, larger trees have also received Mike’s attention and he’s left some straggly-looking branches to ensure the roots are fed. Once new growth is well established, they will be removed too.

Even more drastic was the decision to take out around 100 trees, most of which were not worth saving. generally gentle-contour orchard and the site has been shaped and sown in grass, with a line of young shelter planted, ready for new trees to go in next year.

The soils are volcanic, but parts of the orchard have been contoured so there the top soil is not as deep as would be desirable. The climate is generally mild, as the orchard is close to the harbour.

The couple are following Lindsay’s nutrition programme for the trees, hand applying fertiliser to each one. Spraying is done by contractors.

Tatara has also become part of an avocado research programme looking at issues with irregular bearing.

In between caring for the orchard, Peter and Louise are continuing to find out as much as they can about growing avocados and the avocado industry.

The re-growth after harsh pruning at Tatara Orchard is impressive.

“We like the fact that we are part of an industry which produces a high quality, nutritious fruit, especially at a time when the world demand for food is growing,” says Louise.

Reports

They were growing on one of the steeper parts of the

Nutritious fruit

The direction the industry is taking to improve market performance and grower returns is also important.

Although they will have a relatively small crop to harvest this season, like other growers Peter and Louise will be closely watching exporters to see how they perform.

They aren’t expecting any quick returns on their investment, given the state the orchard was in, but they do expect it to become profitable in future, and provide them with an income as well as a lifestyle.

Avoscene September 2014

l

45

Be prepared for biosecurity

By Elaine Fisher, Journalist, SunMedia

elaine@thesun.co.nz

Two industry organisations as well as the Ministry for Primary industries have signed the Government Industry Agreement Deed. NZ Avocado’s new Biosecurity and Programme Manager Brad Siebert is advocating the need for the industry to be prepared for biosecurity readiness and response.

Reports

Twelve exotic pests are at the top of the avocado

pests and diseases aren’t always via passenger and trade

industry’s “not wanted” list but there’s many more

movements but potentially through natural wind-borne

lurking off shore which could also pose serious issues

dispersal from other countries. It’s because the threats

for growers.

are so many that Brad and New Zealand Avocado are encouraging growers to consider the industry signing

New Zealand Avocado’s newly appointed Biosecurity

the Government Industry Agreement for Biosecurity

and Programme Manager Brad Siebert is very familiar

Readiness and Response Deed.

with not only those pests and diseases, but also the ways

46

l

in which they may arrive in this country.

So far the Ministry for Primary Industries, Kiwifruit

That’s thanks to the time he spent working for the

Deed, which will enable signatories to be part of the

Ministry of Agriculture (now Ministry for Primary

decision-making process around readiness and response

Industries) within the analysis and risk profiling group.

activities for their industries biosecurity threats.

“I worked at the Auckland Biosecurity Centre for four

Under the agreement, those who sign up will also share

years ensuring commodities arriving into the country

the costs of responding to a bio-security incursion, both

met the import conditions and biosecurity controls of

in cash and in kind through the use of personnel and

New Zealand.”

resources.

Brad says the pathways into New Zealand for unwanted

The proposal that the avocado industry join GIA

Avoscene September 2014

Vine Health and New Zealand Pork have signed the GIA

“There is considerable benefit in sharing costs and resources rather than each industry doing its own work”

MARKETING THE BEST

AVOCADOS IN NEW ZEALAND AND AROUND THE WORLD

was discussed at grower forums in August and Brad says having a robust debate about how the industry wants to manage biosecurity is important to ensure growers fully understand the proposal.

For Brad, joining makes sense. He worked for Kiwifruit Vine Health for 12 months shortly after it was established to respond to the Psa-V virus which had such a devastating impact on growers.

“That experience illustrated to me how important it is to be ready for an incursion, including having diagnostic capabilities to identify what it is you are dealing with and where it is.”

The GIA has provisions for industries facing similar threats, to work together with MPI in research and development as part of the readiness programme.

“There is considerable benefit in sharing costs and resources rather than each industry doing its own work.”

When Brad left KVH he moved to Australia as Programme Manager, Biosecurity Planning and Implementation for Plant Health Australia, the national coordinator of the government-industry partnership for plant biosecurity in Australia.

Brad’s role included working with growers and industry groups, helping write biosecurity plans and promoting the benefits of being part of the national biosecurity agreement.

“I worked with a wide range of plant industries and the established government industry agreement consistently proved that a coordinated approach to biosecurity planning and response was pivotal in securing an industries future,” says Brad.

JARROD REDWOOD Avocado Program Manager P +64 9 573 8581 M +64 27 200 0295 E jredwood@freshmax.co.nz

KIM FRASER Domestic Manager P +64 9 917 1485 M +64 21 629 816 E kfraser@freshmax.co.nz

RODGER BAYLY Export Marketing P +64 7 985 6802 M +64 21 622 577 E rbayly@freshmax.co.nz

DAvE ALDERTON Technical Services M +64 21 505 814 E dalderton@freshmax.co.nz

Avoscene September 2014

l

47

Food Act 2014 Implications for avocado growers Matthew Dolan, Business Manager, Horticulture New Zealand Matthew.Dolan@hortnz.co.nz

After progressing at a glacial pace for more than 10 years, the Food Act is finally here. So what does this mean for avocado growers?

The Food Act has been welcomed by the horticulture industry, mostly because it updates food laws that were more than 30 years old, but also because it promises to provide better recognition of our food safety systems in overseas markets.

Reports

But the Food Act faces a challenge in the horticulture industry, as a huge portion of growers are already in industry Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) programmes and are therefore operating to standards far higher than those prescribed in the new laws. But there are also many uncertified growers who will have to meet new requirements.

Food Act relevance to avocado growers The first observation is that the Food Act places fruit and vegetable production at the lowest level of risk. This means that growers will have to meet the standards of what is known as National Programme Level 1. This makes sense when you consider the risks of crops, such as avocados, relative to animal products and highly

48

l

Avoscene September 2014

processed foods which will require more complex Food Control Plans.

But even at this low level of risk, the Act includes a number of new requirements which growers will be required to meet.

The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) is in the process of developing a set of food safety guidance documents which will describe basic standards that growers can implement in order to meet their legal obligations. These guidelines are still very much draft, but appear to have similar hygiene standards to those you would see in most GAP programmes.

It is proposed that the owners of GAP programmes, such as NZGAP and the many packers and marketers operating GLOBAL GAP and Woolworths Quality Assurance (WQA) based schemes, would be able to present their standards to MPI for recognition. Growers in these schemes would be recognised as meeting most of the requirements of the Act and the Government as

“What is important is that the avocado industry has an effective food safety framework, which is tuned into the needs of the market, is responsive to change and resilient in a crisis”

undertaken that they will not duplicate costs and effort for growers certified to these industry programmes.

Most commercial food business in New Zealand, including avocado growers, will be required to register their businesses with MPI. The registration process is unclear at this stage, but the Act specifies a reasonable amount of information that will need to be provided and includes the ability for the government to charge registration fees.

MPI has indicated that the owners of GAP schemes may be able to register their members, saving these growers having to register themselves. Growers that are not GAP certified will likely have to register their own businesses.

Growers will be required to undergo a one-off food safety audit. It is MPI’s intention that GAP audits will be recognised as meeting this requirement, but uncertified growers will have to arrange these audits themselves.

It is unclear who will be appointed to undertake these audits, and what they will cost, but based on the general cost of audit services, it is estimated that this may be in the range of $200-$600.

It appears that the food safety framework that will emerge out of the Food Act will include many of the same components as our industry programmes. It will have a set of standards, some record keeping, monitoring and audit requirements. It will also have consequences for poor performance.

What impact will the Food Act have on avocado growers?

It is unlikely that GAP certified growers will be greatly affected by the new laws. However, there are many avocado growers that are not in GAP schemes and may be required to implement some new systems.

Growers that grow, pack and sell their fruit directly to the public (i.e. are present at the point of sale) will not have to register their businesses or undergo an audit.

They will, however, have a legal obligation to sell safe food.

There is lots of activity around the Food Act at the moment, but any impact on existing avocado growers is still a long way off. The regulations will be finalised by 1 March 2016. Any new growers to the industry will be required to comply from this date, but existing growers will have a three year implementation period.

Reports

Despite the enormous amount of time it has taken to get the Food Act to this point, the detail will be in the regulations and these are yet to be written.

be basically left alone, unless there is a problem. This is fine as a minimum standard, but GAP programmes are intended to enable growers to provide a higher level of confidence to their customers and to participate in increasingly sophisticated supply chains.

It is unclear exactly how the Food Act will impact avocado growers. At this point in time, it appears that GAP certified growers may probably notice little difference, while others will be required to do some fairly basic tasks.

Why can’t the Food Act just replace the industry GAP programmes?

What is important is that the avocado industry has an effective food safety framework, which is tuned into the needs of the market, is responsive to change and resilient in a crisis.

An important difference between the Food Act and our industry GAP programmes is in the audits. The Food Act requires a one-off audit and then the business will

Regulation is an important part of this, but the reality is that good food safety standards are driven by good businesses.

Avoscene September 2014

l

49

Plan before you plant near power lines. Small trees now can be big problems later.

Dangers of working near power lines

Dangers of planting trees near power lines

For a list of Powerco approved contactors that can trim trees in your area, visit powerco.co.nz/safety/ tree-trimming, ring 0800 POWERCO (0800 769 372) or scan the QR code with your smart device.

When planting on your property, serious consideration should be given to the species and placement of trees to ensure they do not interfere with power lines now or in the future. A tree owner may be liable for costs associated with damage to Powerco’s network caused by their trees.

Dangers of trees near power lines Trees in contact with or close to live power lines have the potential to cause injury or death by electrocution, or damage overhead lines. When conditions are dry, trees near power lines can cause fires.

50

l

Avoscene September 2014

Touching a live power line or a tree close to the line can cause serious injury or death by electrocution. Government regulations say that only qualified and approved contractors may cut or trim trees growing within a 4m radius of power lines.

Safe and secure: tackling fruit theft

By Hamish Carter, Journalist, SunMedia

hamish@thesun.co.nz

A love for avocados has prompted a Tauranga police officer to target theft of the fruit off orchards after a series of recent losses from blocks in the Western Bay. “I saw a couple of reports of avocados being stolen at the beginning of July and it just started from there. I love avocados so wasn’t happy to hear about them being stolen,” says Constable Aaron Williams.

Aaron quickly took on the self-appointed role as contact point for growers, working with NZ Avocado to send out messages to growers reminding them to watch out for suspicious behaviour and encourage them to take safety precautions.

“I just wanted to get the message out to growers if they see anything they need to let us know,” says Aaron.

“As they say, we don’t know what we don’t know if growers don’t let us know, even if it’s just something small.”

Aaron has been pleased with grower feedback, particularly around Katikati where most reports are coming from, saying it seems to have made a difference in getting orchardists to contact the police about issues.

Liz says suspicions were raised when Iain noticed tyre tracks he didn’t recognise going onto his blocks.

The couple, who have 1000 trees on their property at the corner of Stokes Rd and State Highway 2, estimate one-two bins of fruit were taken ($1000-$2000 loss) in what was their first theft in eight years in the area.

Concerned about a possible repeat, but not wanting to pay thousands of dollars for security fencing along their long boundary, they installed a security camera to watch out for suspicious behaviour.

“It was great to have that result even though they are still looking for him. I’m sure it’s getting the message out that the police are taking this seriously.”

Reports

Katikati orchardists Liz and Iain McGillivary were delighted with the interest from the police and NZ Avocado when they reported a theft in early July and are joining them in encouraging other growers to report anything suspicious.

Within a week the camera had captured images of a car which Katikati Police identified as a green Toyota Corolla that was owned by the brother of a man previously charged with avocado theft who they are pursuing.

Sergeant Steve Hindmarsh from Katikati Police confirmed that they were still looking for someone in the Auckland area who was related to a man charged with stealing avocados from a Kauri Point block last year.

Steve says the extent of the problem seemed to be similar to last year, with about a handful of thefts reported by growers. He says these numbers are down on a spate of thefts reported a few years earlier, but were only based on what was reported to them.

“The big thing is if they call us at the time on 111 it gives us the chance to respond straight away,” says Steve, referring to a recent case in Matahui Rd where a grower

continued...

Avoscene September 2014

l

51

“The stolen, often unripe, avocados are usually sold at markets in Auckland, with most theft taking place prior to the harvest season.”

interrupted a thief picking avocados when she returned home from night shift but did not call police until later in the day.

“If we can send someone out straight away, even if we don’t have a descripton of the car, we will obviously have a much better chance of catching them.”

Along with keeping an eye out, Steve is encouraging growers to deter thieves by installing motion activated cameras and putting up signs warning the property is under surveillance. He suggests game trail cameras used by hunters to monitor animal movement in the bush are ideal for the job, with the ability to film in the dark.

The cameras (costing about $250) should be sited near where people are likely to park or walk into the orchard so they can get identifiable images of vehicles or people.

Aaron also encourages growers to use neighbourhood support groups to work together looking out for suspicious behaviour in their area and alerting each other to any issues.

Reports

The stolen, often unripe, avocados are usually sold at markets in Auckland, with most theft taking place prior to the harvest season.

“Because avocados are so sought after and easy to sell it seems to be a particular problem for avocado growers,” says Aaron, who was unaware of similar theft problems with any other fruit such as kiwifruit.

Northland growers are also being encouraged to look at their security after a Maungatapere orchard lost 2000 fruit when it was raided on two consecutive nights in early August.

Food traceability technology is being offered by Dunedin-based agricultural science specialist Oritain as a way growers can prove stolen fruit came from their orchard. CEO Grant Cochrane says they have had had strong interest from the few growers they had talked to

52

l

Avoscene September 2014

about the protection they offer.

“We are just about to launch it in the horticulture sector, so it’s too early to gauge the response, but there has been strong interest from the pastoral sector.”

Grant says the forensic-based technology, which is based on the fact plants have a distinct biochemical signature from where they are grown, stood up in court as a way of providing where plants or stock are from. The technology, which is being offered on a subscription basis, is being used by some farmers as an “insurance policy” against stock rustling.

“We’re working on a couple of court cases at the moment, including a grower, but we can’t go into details.”

What should you do?

Police are encouraging growers to take these steps: • Be extra vigilant and take steps to prevent theft, including increasing security around your orchard.

• If you witness any suspicious behaviour, contact neighbouring orchards to ensure others are also keeping a look out.

• If a theft takes place, the New Zealand Police encourage reporting in all instances.

• If witnessed at the time of theft, call the Police emergency line on 111 immediately. Try to take as many details as you can of the thieves, including their appearance and any vehicles and vehicle registration numbers.

• If you discover fruit has been stolen but you did not witness the theft, contact your local police station.

• If you have had fruit stolen recently but have not yet reported it, contact your local police station and they will direct you to the Crime Reporting Line.

Theft Countermeasure

Deter would-be criminals and provide evidence for prosecution of accused.

Protect your produce.

Contact our team today info@farmprint.co.nz (03) 489 0086

CHIPPERS FOR SALE SECOND HAND OPTIONS

LOW COST NEW OPTIONS

9" HYDRAULIC FEED BEAR CAT CHIPPER

6" & 10" HYDRAULIC FEED CHIPPERS

USED $11,000 Incl GST.

From

Pre-autofeed model — Factory modified to suit New Zealand Avocado orchard needs.

New blades, new Anvil, recent service. Runs very well.

ALSO AVAILABLE:

6" Dosco with 25HP Kohler, and 9" Chip‑Star.

(10" model pictured).

$5,200

CALL BEN

Incl GST

on 021 427 554 or 0508 36 77 83 Avoscene September 2014

l

53

e n e c s o v A July 2014

rnal

wers’ Jou

cado Gro

land Avo

New Zea

s Issue

Inside thi

ay time bal underw azing Any PGP Go Glo cados Am ry story: Avo land catego t damage New Zea vent fros pre to iness - how Frosty bus Australia mselves for ready the Exporters

Avos cene

July 2014

l

1

To book advertising space in the next issue of Avoscene please contact Suzy King at SunMedia Ltd. Booking deadline for the next issue is October 17, 2014.

Contact Suzy on 07 578 0030 or 021 769 831 email suzy@thesun.co.nz 54

l

Avoscene September 2014

New health research Rachel E. Kopec, Jessica L. Cooperstone, Ralf M. Schweiggert, Gregory S. Young, Earl H. Harrison, David M. Francis, Steven K. Clinton, Steven J. Schwartz (J. Nutr. 2014 jn.113.187674; first published online June 4, 2014.)

Avocado consumption enhances human post-prandial provitamin A absorption and conversion from a novel high beta-carotene tomato sauce and from carrots.

Study overview:

Study diet details

The study, Avocado consumption enhances human postprandial provitamin A absorption and conversion from a novel high ß-carotene tomato sauce and from carrots, conducted by The Ohio State University and funded by the Hass Avocado Board (HAB) was published in The Journal of Nutrition.[i]

For both studies, test foods were served with the same standardized breakfast including two egg whites, a medium banana, and a cup of coffee. Participants were randomized to eat 300 g of high ß-carotene tomato sauce or 300g of raw baby carrots with or without avocado. Each breakfast meal with avocado contained an extra 275 calories, 3g protein, 23g fat, and 14g carbohydrate.

Researchers found that fresh avocado significantly enhanced absorption of provitamin A and conversion of these carotenoids to an active form of vitamin A when eaten with either tomato sauce or raw carrots.

Tomato sauce delivered 33.7mg b-carotene and was served at room temperature, with or without 150g of a sliced, fresh Hass avocado (the equivalent of approximately one medium sized avocado). One English muffin was served in order to scoop up all of the sauce from the bowl.

Nourish

This research included two randomized, two-way crossover feeding studies on two separate sets of 12 healthy men and women that investigated if fresh avocado, when eaten with a high ß-carotene tomato sauce or raw carrots, would promote the absorption of provitamin A carotenoids (alpha- and beta-carotene), and the conversion of these carotenoids to an active form of vitamin A.

The raw baby carrots delivered 18.7mg a-carotene and 27.3mg ß-carotene and were served with or without guacamole consisting of 150g freshly mashed Hass avocado, 1 tsp lemon juice, 1/8 tsp garlic powder, and

Avoscene September 2014

l

55

“Researchers found that fresh avocado significantly enhanced absorption of provitamin A and conversion of these carotenoids to an active form of vitamin A when eaten with either tomato sauce or raw carrots”

1/8 tsp salt. One English muffin was served in order to scoop up all of the guacamole from the bowl.

A lunch meal - low in carotenoids, provitamin A and fat - consisting of a turkey breast sandwich served on white bread with fat free mayonnaise, an apple, cream of mushroom soup (98% fat free), pretzel snacks and vitamin A-free fat free Greek yogurt was served 4.5 hours after eating the breakfast test meal (769 calories, 66g protein, 108g carbohydrate, 8g lipid).

Key findings: • Eating avocado with tomatoes or carrots significantly increases absorption of ß-carotene more than eating tomatoes or carrots without avocado.

• Eating avocado with carrots significantly increases absorption of ß-carotene more than eating carrots without avocado.

• Eating avocado with tomatoes or carrots significantly increases the conversion of provitamin A (inactive form) to vitamin A (active form) more than eating tomatoes or carrots without avocado.

Nourish

Global experts in food safety & quality

Talk to us today about our integrated certification and testing services including: › NZGAP and GLOBALG.A.P › British Retail Consortium (BRC) › Tesco Nurture Scheme › Woolworths Quality Assurance › Coles Supplier Management Programme › carboNZero › AsureQuality Organic Standard (IFOAM accredited) › Residue Testing

freephone 0508 00 11 22 | www.asurequality.com

56

l

Avoscene September 2014

Avocados and nutrient absorption The results of this study provide further insight on how eating avocados may enhance nutrient absorption and provide new insight on the conversion of provitamin A to vitamin A when avocados are eaten with foods that contain alpha- or beta-carotene. The results of this study can also inform future research on vitamin A deficient populations. However, these results are based on the consumption of five servings of avocado (one whole avocado) with each test meal. Previous research [ii] showed a similar enhancement in nutrient absorption with one-half of an avocado (75g); additional research is needed to determine whether the results could be replicated with consumption of a single serving, 1/5 of a Hass avocado. [i] Kopec RE, Cooperstone JL, Schweiggert RM, et. Al. Provitamin A carotenoid absorption and conversion from a novel high ß-carotene tomato and from carrot is enhanced with fresh Hass Avocado. J Nutr.

2014. [ii] Unlu NZ, Bohn T, Clinton SK, Schwartz SJ. Carotenoid absorption from salad and salsa by humans is enhanced by the addition of avocado or avocado oil. J Nutr. 2005; 135: 431-6.

Source: http://www.avocadocentral.com/avocado-nutrition-center/ osu-study

Smoky avocado, corn, roast red pepper and potato salad Recipe created by Nadia Lim for New Zealand Avocado

This tasty summer potato salad is perfect to take along to a barbecue.

Ingredients

Method

2 red capsicums 800 grams waxy baby potatoes, quartered 4 corn cobs ½ cup mayonnaise (or for a lighter version, mix half thick Greek yoghurt and half mayonnaise) 1 teaspoon smoked paprika Flesh of 2 firm ripe avocados, cut into chunks ½ small red onion, thinly sliced Juice of 1 lemon 1 cup basil leaves, torn

Preheat oven to 220 degrees celsius. Place whole capsicums on an oven tray and roast for 20-25 minutes or until skin is charred and blistered. Remove and cool slightly before peeling off their skins. Cut flesh into strips.

Serves 4

Mix capsicum strips, corn kernels, avocados, red onion and lemon juice together.

Lightly toss with potatoes. Garnish with basil leaves just before serving.

Nourish

Place potatoes in a large pot with plenty of cold water and one teaspoon of salt (optional). Bring to the boil, then add corn cobs and boil for 6-8 minutes until potatoes are tender and corn is cooked. Drain potatoes and corn and allow to cool.

Cut corn kernels off the cobs once cool enough to handle.

Mix mayonnaise or Greek yoghurt with smoked paprika. Toss dressing with potatoes and season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Avoscene September 2014

l

57

Out and about

Nadia Lim and Jen Scoular on set filming NZ Avocados Amazing Anytime TV Commercials

Nadia Lim on set filming NZ Avocados Amazing Anytime TV Commercials

JohnWeissing, Dave Alderton, MarkWest, Sue Culham and PhillipWest developing a storm recovery decision guide following the Northland storms

AlvaroVidiella with Brian and Jan Robinson working on the MBIE orchard analysis project.

58

l

Avoscene September 2014

Diane Bryant-Jones and Roger Jones, AlvaroVidiella, Dave Reeves and Brad Siebert at the Mangawhai cultivar trial.

TheVogel’s Toast of New Zealand Café roadshow stopped into Tauranga with their smashed Pea and Avocado toast on the menu. Midge Munro withVogel’s Café staff member Brent Robinson enjoying the delicious avocado creation.

We know Growers...

At Just Avocados we’re growers too.

We know what it takes to get Avocados growing and we know how to get your fruit onto the best market shelves in the world...We live and breathe it...We know Avocados. Phone (07) 549-3027 or Greg O’Carroll (027) 268-0374 or Mike Schwed (027) 839-7883 Avoscene September 2014

l

59

60

l

Avoscene September 2014