Project highlights industry potential A corporate dried fruit producer says there’s huge potential in the dried grape industry and has joined a Dried Fruits Australia project to demonstrate its possibilities. Duxton Dried Fruits’ Liparoo property has joined DFA’s 10 Tonne Project, and is among three other properties at Red Cliffs and Merbein all aiming to achieve high production and improve land and water efficiency. The sites will be used to demonstrate how to consistently achieve 10 tonnes per hectare, compared to the industry average of five tonnes per hectare. The 10 Tonne Project is a three-year project funded by the Australian Government through the Murray Darling Basin Economic Development Program. The project includes grower technology training sessions to demonstrate the use of pest and disease modelling, NDVI (normalised difference vegetation index) imaging, and soil moisture monitoring.
Monitoring to achieve high yields Duxton Dried Fruits chief viticulturist Sam Bowman said the company was keen to be involved in the 10 Tonne Project to show what a property could produce at scale. “A lot of the smaller growers have dropped out of the industry and larger corporates are taking more of a dominant role in the industry, so for us it’s about showing – on a commercial scale as well as on small blocks – that you can achieve those yield targets,” Sam said. The Liparoo block involved in the
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10 Tonne Project is a patch of Sunmuscat, while the remainder of the dried fruit on the property is a mix of sultana, Sunmuscat and Sunglo. Sam said the 10 Tonne Project complemented Duxton’s approach to horticulture production across the company, including closely monitoring soil moisture and nutrients. “Water management is the most crucial thing for us because it’s a hot, arid climate,” he said. “Nutrient management is a big key, too, as is getting that microclimate management right. “Achieving those high yields for us is about making sure we’ve got the right nutrition, right water and right balance for the soil.” Sam said monitoring through the 10 Tonne Project would teach the company and its farm managers – as well as the broader industry – more about effective and efficient farm management. “Using aerial imaging and having monitors within the canopies is going to teach us about how we’re going, what we’re doing and how we can start using that information as a resource across the other farms, too,” he said. Sam said while it would likely be a full 12 months of monitoring to capture a complete picture of how the farm was operating, he could already see the benefits of being part of the project and how it would contribute to overall industry knowledge.
Investing in potential Duxton Dried Fruits’ 200ha Liparoo property was acquired in 201516, while another larger 600ha development at Euston has been underway since 2017.
