As a member of the International Society for Horticultural Science Cherry Section, I am promoting the announcement of an important event for cherry and other tree crop growers.
It is on 3–8 Dec 2023 in Tatura, Victoria and it is the Precision Management of Orchards and Vineyards International Symposium.
There is much to be gained by hosting a world class fruit conference in Australia. If unable to attend be sure to follow up information through Agriculture Victoria.
Included here are two abstracts from the list of presentations.
Precision canopy management strategies for sweet cherry orchards of the future.
Matthew Whiting, Washington State University, IAREC
Sweet cherry remains among the most labour-intensive temperate tree fruit crops, requiring large crews of skilled labour for harvest and pruning due to the large and generally chaotic tree structures of traditional orchard systems.
Indeed, regional grower associations in the U.S. have identified the need to improve labour efficiencies among their highest priorities for more than a decade.
As new sweet cherry orchards are planted around the globe, growers face a myriad of choices among cultivars, rootstocks, and orchard systems, and foremost in their minds are questions about fruit quality, system precocity, and productivity. Yet equally important are the effects their decisions have on labour efficiency and the potential to incorporate mechanization/automation, sensor technologies, and precision management strategies.
The tree fruit physiology team at Washington State University has been developing and refining high efficiency orchard systems that are sustainable, consistently productive, yield superlative fruit and are well-suited to the adoption of precision management strategies.
There is worldwide interest in the Upright Fruiting Offshoots (UFO) architecture due to its planar nature and the simplicity of pruning and training. This presentation will summarize the evolution of this training system and recent trials in precision orchard management strategies including artificial pollination, robotic pruning, and mechanical harvest systems—all possible with the development of fruiting wall architectures.
The successful development of any orchard system will depend upon addressing the total system, with research at the intersection of biology and technology being key. This presentation will describe a 20-year collaboration toward the development of high efficiency sweet cherry production systems and the vision we have for precision management of orchards of the future.
A review of the production challenges for sweet cherries grown under protected cropping systems.
Cameron Stone, AgNova Technologies; Ramandeep Sidhu, Dugald Close and Nigel Swarts Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture, University of Tasmania
Tasmanian grown sweet cherries are in high demand on international markets due to their premium quality, late season market access and minimal trade barrier.
Australia has seen an increase in the investment of protected cropping systems (PCS) to mitigate the risks associated with the production of premium cherry fruit.
In Tasmania, previous studies have shown that various PCS minimise fruit cracking improve fruit set and size. Despite the benefits of PCS, there are still challenges associated with growing cherries under PCS.
Some of these challenges include softer fruit in some seasons, an increase in tree vigour as well as the difficulty in predicting irrigation and fertigation requirements to the trees growing in these novel microclimates.
PCS modify orchard micro- and meso- climates generally by increasing temperature and relative humidity and lowering solar radiation and wind exposure. All these factors have shown to reduce tree water uptake resulting in the potential implications for the uptake of mineral nutrients (particularly calcium).
Hence, greater knowledge of tree water and nutrient uptake, identification, and quantification of plant growth regulators may help gain an improved understanding of fruit quality and tree growth characteristic negatively associated with production under PCS (fruit firmness and tree vigour).
This new knowledge would be invaluable to the cherry industry in ensuring high demand for quality sweet cherries grown under PCS remain on international market.
There is a need for research to address these issues under PCS by identifying and quantifying eco-physiological constraints to further develop cultivar and PCS specific management practices.
A poster presentation on tart cherries
The abstract below is from a poster presentation on tart cherries. Although not entirely relevant to sweet cherries I did note one of their findings, that “higher canopy density is correlated with higher pest and disease incidence.”
So be aware—if canopy growth becomes too dense during the growing season there could be a higher risk of pest and disease incidense—and note that spray penetration is reduced by a dense canopy which makes it less likely to be as effective in gaining control.
Precision agriculture techniques for evaluating tart cherry tree health
Christina Lilligren, Marion Murray, Kurt Wedegaertner and Brent Black, Utah State University
Precision agriculture techniques have not been used to assess tart cherry tree health, due in part to the low-input and relatively low-value nature of the crop.
However, current techniques for tree health monitoring are labour intensive and often fail to detect issues before yield and fruit quality are impacted.
The increasing affordability of precision agriculture technology presents unique possibilities for assessing tree health in a low-input horticultural crop. We tested high-resolution ceptometry, soil electromagnetic induction (EM) mapping, UAV-mounted RGB and multispectral imagery, as well as satellite imagery for correlations to tree health parameters.
Traditional scouting was also carried out to assess tree nutrient status and incidence of powdery mildew and spider mite damage.
These combinations of data have shown that higher canopy density is correlated with higher pest and disease incidence. The relationship between soil EM values and tree health differed by symptom and location. Emerging precision agriculture technologies may provide management opportunities for lower-value orchard crops such as tart cherry.
See this article in Tree Fruit Nov 2023
