When: Wednesday 2 October, starting at 3pm.
Where: Nga Kuri Farm, 80 Northridge Road, Waikerikeri. There will be signs indicating where to go.
This field walk is an opportunity to view planar cordon cherry, apricot and pear plantings of various ages and discuss the upcoming season.
The Plant & Food Research team will also provide an update on the Ministry for Primary Industries’ Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures fund programme that is titled ‘Future orchard planting systems: to double productivity, improve environmental outcomes and transform labour practices’.
This programme is investigating the following areas in experimental and commercial planar cordon orchards of apple, pear and summerfruit:
- Potential barriers in adopting new growing systems
- Tree performance, management techniques and metrics for sustainable yield and fruit quality
- Orchard water use and nitrate leaching (apples only)
- Economic modelling and evaluation of planar cordon orchard performance versus other emerging and conventional systems
Refreshments will be provided afterwards to enable informal discussions.
All are welcome!
For enquiries, please contact Tiff.DaSilva@plantandfood.co.nz