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.

Stonefruit varieties

  • Apricot: Golden May
  • Nectarine: Autumn Bright; Rose Bright; September bright; August Bright; Ice Princess
  • Peach: September Sun; August Flame; O'Henry; Snow Flame 23; Snow Flame 25; Redhaven; Snow Fall
  • Plum: Angeleno
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Online virtual orchard tour

A look around the orchard

360 degree virtual tours of the Stonefruit research orchard at Agriculture Victoria (Tatura). These tours  showcase fruit development progress over the 2018/19 and 2019/20 seasons.

Flowering and fruit on tree structures in the canopy-cropload experiments.

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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

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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.

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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

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Next: Researchers & events
Researchers & events

Scientists and grower meetings

Meet the scientists involved in stronefruit research.

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.

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