Early and even application of Surround—well before heat events—is essential for superior performance and productivity.
A grower-conducted trial on over 30,000 trees has demonstrated again that choosing the best sunburn protection product and applying it correctly can dramatically improve grower returns.
The trial, instigated by a large apple, pear and stone fruit grower in the Goulburn Valley, compared the bottom line result of Surround versus calcium and unrefined kaolin-based products.
In the years prior to the trial it was not uncommon for the orchard to experience losses of around 30% to sunburn on apples.
The orchard, like many in the area, is based on high density Open Tatura trellising. This appears to have increased the incidence of sunburn, reducing the yield potential of premium grade fruit and reducing returns to growers.
According to Darren Thomas, sales and marketing manager with AgNova Technologies, the orchard’s management team wanted to test the options and quantify the return on investment when applied side by side in an independently controlled trial.
“The differences were significant,” Darren said.
“Surround was the clear winner with a net return over $3800/ha in front of the next best treatment. There are not many inputs that a grower can utilize that will generate that sort of net return!”
Application of sunburn protectants has changed on many Goulburn valley orchards in recent years with the modification to existing air blast sprayers.
“Sunburn occurs on fruit exposed to the sun. Conventional airblasts are not designed to spray the tops of fruit, particularly fruit inside the vee of the trellis,” Darren said.
“Innovative growers have fabricated extensions to air blast sprayers so that the nozzles and air stream is sprayed from above the tree. This modification coats the top of the fruit exposed to the sun protecting it from sunburn.
“Surround is also a great way to check the accuracy of sprayers because you can see where your sprayer is putting it.”
Darren said Surround is good insurance for your orchard.
“It is a useful tool to help ensure that fruit is grown to suit the increasingly high standards required by the customers.”
“Any initiative that improves quality of fruit and therefore pack-out percentage can add a lot to an orchardist’s bottom line.
“With grower margins being squeezed, value adding products such as Surround have the potential to mean the difference between making a profit rather than a loss.”
To maximize the protection, growers need to apply the product before the hot weather starts.
For more information, see the November 2011 issue of Tree Fruit
