Growers and plant scientists from several universities have joined forces on a new tree crop program designed to speed up the development of several produce ranges.
The $41 million tree crop program aims to develop new almond, apple, citrus, macadamia, and mango varieties, to be sold to consumers both nationally and abroad.
The project aims to develop smaller, high-density orchards for higher yield, supported by automation to reduce the pressures caused by labour shortages.
The new varieties will also feature desirable traits such as better storage and quality, higher nutritional content, and climate resilience for sustainably produced Australian-grown fruit and nuts.
Delivered through Hort Innovation’s Frontiers investment program, the five-year initiative is led by a collaboration between the Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Murdoch University, University of Queensland (UQ) and Western Sydney University (WSU).
Hort Innovation CEO Brett Fifield said this investment would prepare tree crop industries for a more productive and profitable future.
“Equipping plant breeders with the tools they need to develop genetics for the next generation of orchards will support the horticulture industry to enhance resilience to climate change and diseases, find efficiencies through the adoption of automation technologies, and increase productivity,” said Fifield.
“In the long-term, this program will enable the development of new varieties of almond, apple, citrus, macadamia and mango to ensure their long-term viability and global competitiveness.”
The program draws on over five years of research in tree genomics and crop physiology to improve orchard production systems and develop new tree crop varieties.
The program is also in collaboration with national levy and publicly funded breeding programs, with research providing breeders with advanced genetic knowledge and tools to create new varieties with desirable traits.
QUT program director, evolutionary geneticist Professor Peter Prentis, from QUT’s School of Biology and Environmental Science, said the goal was to grow smaller trees with greater disease resistance, productivity, storage time and enhanced climate resilience.
“To fast-forward the process of breeding new varieties suitable for the next-gen orchard, we will use traditional breeding methods and QUT’s expertise in non-traditional breeding approaches,” said Prentis.
“The newly developed trees may be grown in straight rows on trellises, which is how many apple orchards already operate that produce large yields.”
Prentis added that this development would also enable robots to move up and down planted rows for easier automated picking.
Meanwhile, Western’s node leader and plant molecular biologist associate professor Christopher Cazzonelli, from the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, said the goal is to grow smaller trees with greater productivity.
“This transformative endeavour promises to accelerate the development of new cultivars and sustainable growing practices, ushering in a new era of efficiency and innovation for Australian tree crop orchard systems,” said Cazzonelli.
“To fast-forward the process of breeding new varieties suitable for the next gen orchards we intend to develop and integrate molecular markers into genomic selection models and use traditional breeding methods to revolutionise orchard management.”
Macadamia Industry Variety Improvement Committee chair Lindsay Bryen welcomed the development and said it is essential for industry to have access to varieties that are productive and profitable.
“As we move into the next generation of orchards, we need access to varieties that are designed for the latest production techniques and automation options, including having a small tree structure and high yields with sound commercial production and improved pest resistance,” said Bryen.
“Growers are focused on delivering consumers with what they are looking for in the most efficient way we can, maximising productivity and reducing costs.”
Lindsay Bryen, chair of the Macadamia Industry Variety Improvement Committee, emphasised that it’s crucial for the industry to access productive and profitable varieties.
Meanwhile, QUT program director Professor Peter Prentis said the program has a focus on maximising resources.
“To maximise space and resources in next generation orchards, this program will focus on the development of smaller, less vigorous tree varieties planted at higher densities,” he said.
“These smaller, high-density orchards will maximise yield per unit area and support the implementation of automated management tools that will help growers improve their productivity at reduced costs.
“The research will then flow directly to active breeding programs that can use this knowledge and these tools to assist them in accelerating the development of new fruit and nut varieties for Australian producers.”
Professor Prentis said QUT’s leadership in robotic vision and drone technology would be used in the first phase of the project to obtain data on the tree’s characteristics including key flowering and growing style traits.
“Our first step is to provide breeders with the genomic tools to deliver new varieties and to do this our robots will take images of existing trees to enable breeders to study and understand their traits and help generate trees with desirable trait combinations.
“Climate change is another challenge crops like apple, mango, and almond face, because they need a certain amount of cold temperature to produce more consistent flowering and intensify production.
“This project aims to develop management tools to help these orchard crops flower more consistently.”
According to the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences, in Australia, almonds are the seventh highest grossing crop, oranges are eighth, and macadamia nuts sit in 10th position.
Demonstrating the importance of this research, a new Rabobank report detailed how Australia’s almond exports continue to grow faster than the global average, while only accounting for 9.5 per cent of global almond exports.
For macadamias, Australia represents 25 per cent of global trade, reaching 17,2000 metric tons KWE in 2023.
“And as China and India, another major tree nut market, have limited domestic production, we expect further growth in imports will be required to meet demand, which Australia’s growing production is well placed to provide,” said report author, RaboResearch analyst Pia Piggott.
This research project could help provide a better outcome for producers by helping increase the output of three out of 10 of the country’s most lucrative crops.