Production research

Stonefruit production research

See the latest production research from the Stonefruit orchard at Tatura

Research focused on Production, Harvest, Post-harvest & Markets

Agriculture Victoria, with the support of the summerfruit industry and Horticulture Innovation Australia, is investigating future production systems to increase productivity and grower returns through improved eating quality and consumer satisfaction.

See video: Agriculture Victoria Research on Stonefruit from the Horticulture toolresouces YouTube channel.

Profitable Stonefruit Newsletters

9 September 2021

Webinars recorded from recent summerfruit industry events

  • August - webinar 1: Production research, Ag Tech research
  • September - webinar 2: Supply chain research

17 June 2021

Grower Protocols - Current recommendations and guidelines

  • Rootstock performance
  • Irrigation protocols
  • Canopy design options
  • Crop load management

12 April 2021

  • Canopy - Crop load study
  • Rootstock - Crop load study
  • Deficit irrigation study

10 November 2020

  • Stonefruit Cultivar Performance and more

4 November 2020

  • Stonefruit Delayed Cooling

27 October 2020

  • Using real-time loggers and dashboards. Includes Video from Summerfruit webinar series 2020 'Managing fruit for export quality'
  • Video interview: Monitoring fruit temperature during export (Rowan Little, Chief Innovation Officer at Montague)

13 October 2020

  • Summerfruit research improves fruit quality for domestic & export markets
  • New DA meter software to make using the DA meter easier, & help determine fruit harvest timing
  • DA meter database - 20 cultivars
  • Measuring fruit maturity with the DA meter

25 September 2020

  • Grower Protocols, and results of field and fruit quality 2016-2020, for:
  1. Stonefruit canopy & crop load experiments
  2. Stonefruit rootstock experiments
  3. Irrigation experiments
Next: Orchard management
Orchard management

Stonefruit orchard management

Some orchard management techniques from the Stonefruit research orchard at Tatura.

Online virtual orchard tour

A look around the orchard

360 degree virtual tour of the Stonefruit demonstration plot: Peach and Nectarine canopies for mechanical pruning and mechanical harvesting

Learn more
Next: Harvest / Post harvest
Harvest / Post harvest

Harvest & post-harvest research

  • Research on non-destructive technologies to optimise fruit maturity at harvest
  • Understand how fruit maturity affects storage and impacts fruit composition and quality
  • Impacts of Methyl bromide fumigation treatment on fruit for export .
  • Monitoring and modelling stonefruit export fruit along the supply chain to improve the quality of Australian fresh produce into Asian markets (Serviced Supply Chain project)

The research project, SF15001 Comparing Stonefruit ripening, quality and volatile composition, was funded by Agriculture Victoria with co-investment from Horticulture Innovation Australia Limited using the Summerfruit levy and funds from the Australian Government.

The research project, Serviced Supply Chain, is funded by the Hort Frontiers Asian markets Fund, part of the Hort Frontiers Asian strategic partnership initiative developed by Hort Innovation, with co-investment from Agriculture Victoria, the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries Queensland (DAFQ), Montague Fresh (summerfruit), Manbulloo (mangoes), Glen Grove (citrus), the Australian Government plus in-kind support from University of Queensland and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Learn more
Next: Market research
Market research

Stonefruit export market research

Consumer preference research for stonefruit (summerfruits) was conducted in China and Indonesia to help growers determine the best varieties to meet each market’s requirements.

Full copies of the consumer preference research reports are available to levy payers and members of Summerfruit Australia

Summerfruit Australia

Summerfruit exports look positive

The Australian summerfruit exports look positive following a record breaking 2018/19 season.  Comments from John Moore, consultant for China Trade Market Access at  Summerfruit Australia.

Source: FreshPlaza.com

Learn more
Next: Researchers & events
Researchers & events

Researchers and grower meetings

Meet the researchers involved in stronefruit science.

See the events that growers and industry members can attend (includes information from past events).

Stonefruit grower events

Stonefruit Research Roadshows highlighting research from the Stonefruit research orchard in Tatura and research from Agribiosciences, Bundoora.

Learn more