The Tatura systems are not only known for their high productivity and efficiency of producing fruit, they have also withstood the anger of the gods of weather.
This unique combination may be the solution to establish a sustainable and prosperous industry of exotic tropical fruits in cyclone-prone north Queensland, and perhaps other parts of tropical Australia.
A number of significant climatic events are proof that the productivity and versatility of the Tatura Trellis and Open Tatura* are unequalled.
In February 1983, a severe storm brought gale-force winds, dust, lightning, hail and rain to Tatura, Victoria.
At the Tatura Research Institute, a caravan with scientific equipment to record data in the field, was hurled 400 m over fences and came to rest in a neighbour’s paddock. The caravan was a total write-off.
In and around the institute, power lines were brought down, roofing was blown off houses and sheds, and fruit trees were broken and uprooted.
To our surprise, the original Tatura Trellis planting with Golden Queen peach trees, established in 1973, came through the storm unscathed, although a considerable amount of fruit, only three weeks from being harvested, was lost.
In 1984, three New Zealand scientists published an article in the New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research titled “Wind damage to kiwifruit in relation to windbreak performance”. They reported that kiwifruit vines trellised on T-bar or Pergola, and with natural or artificial windbreaks, lost an average of 25 per cent of fruit each year due to wind damage.
Losses resulted from frictional marks caused by fruit rubbing against each other and against plant canes. The proportion of damage to leaves and vegetative growth was similar to fruit damaged by wind-rub.
Regardless of the mechanisms involved, the high loss of exportable fruit and damage to vines meant that alternative approaches to vine protection needed to be considered. The authors suggested that one such alternative was the Tatura Trellis, because vines grown on this system with minimal internal shelter lost only 1 per cent of total fruit weight from wind damage.
They attributed this to a) the canes being grown between wire supports, rather than being unsupported above the crop as on T-bar and Pergola, and b) a more effective reduction in the turbulent energy exchange between the vines and the overhead airstream.
It has been reported in the USA that V-systems are most useful where strong winds are a problem.
In March 2006 tropical cyclone (TC) Larry struck part of north Queensland’s coastal area. In its wake was “Fruit Forest Farm” in East Feluga near Tully.
The damage to this 15 hectare farm of traditionally planted (free-standing and widely spaced) exotic tropical fruits owned by Peter and Alison Salleras, was quite extensive.
They decided to re-plant on Open Tatura, what was believed to be a world-first for tropical fruits. Rambutan (Nephellium lappaceum), Soursop (Annona muricata), Rollinia (Rollinia deliciosa), Abiu (Pouteria caimito), Malay Apple (Syzyguim malaccence), Star Apple (Chrysophyllum cainito) and Carambola (Averrhoa carambola) were some of the fruit species that Peter and Alison planted on Open Tatura in 2007 and 2008.
The real test of the Open Tatura came in February 2011, when TC Yasi struck the same area. This time “Fruit Forest Farm” was right in the path of the most ferocious cyclone in living memory. Winds of 320 km per hour came from two opposite directions, and were sustained at a high level for more than 6 hours, causing massive destruction of trees, crops and buildings.
When TC Yasi struck, the trellised trees lost a considerable amount of leaves, but remained intact. In contrast, Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus) on T-bar and traditionally planted rambutan trees were uprooted and destroyed. Traditionally planted rambutan trees in the area suffered the same fate as Peter and Alison’s, often with 100 per cent losses.
An example of the resilience of trees on Open Tatura was Rollinia, which flowered and set fruit in less than 6 months after TC Yasi. Most fruit species on Open Tatura flowered and set fruit within a year, while growers continued to clean up traditionally-planted trees.
The virtues of the Tatura system of growing fruit in the Australian tropics promises a new beginning. The demand for tropical fruits continues to grow in Australia, while there are more than a billion potential customers in Asia. A strong market and high returns should encourage growers to embrace the principles of high density trellised planting and technology, and be confident that they need no longer be at the mercy of the weather.
Many tropical fruit species have peculiar growing and fruiting habits, which are difficult to manage and manipulate. For example, some species need to be temporarily water-stressed to induce flowering and fruit set. Since parts of north Queensland receive three to six metres of rain annually, often at undesired times, to induce flowering and fruit set, plastic covers could be incorporated into the trellis structure to protect the trees’ narrow root zone from receiving too much rain.
The high returns for some of the exotic fruits, such as Durian (Durio zibethinus) and Malay Apple, may warrant the use of Open Tatura to erect different types of netting to ward off pests, especially fruit fly.
Possibilities are boundless – opportunities are mind blowing. What one can do is only limited by one’s imagination.
*The Open Tatura, where the trees alternate left and right, differs from the Tatura Trellis. The Open Tatura is open, because a narrow strip about 500 mm wide separates the diagonally planted trees within each row. The Open Tatura was originally designed for temperate fruit to let more sunlight for longer and have better access to the canopies than with the Tatura Trellis.
For information, images and contact details, see the February 2012 Tree Fruit.
