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Completed project

Almond Centre of Excellence experimental and demonstration orchard (AL19000)

Publication date: March 18, 2025

Delivery Partner: Almond Board of Australia

Download the final report
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    What was it all about?

    The project established a dedicated experimental orchard for research and development for the Australian almond industry. A 60-hectare greenfield site in Loxton, South Australia, was transformed into a state-of-the-art research facility for cutting-edge trials conducted under commercial orchard conditions to ensure practical application. 

    The Centre of Excellence demonstrates new technologies and practices to the almond industry, and helps enhance the progress and extension of levy-funded projects such as:

    • National almond breeding and evaluation program (AL17005)
    • Evaluation of potential prunus rootstocks for almond production – stage 2 (AL16006)
    • Almond productivity: Tree architecture and development of new growing systems (AL14007)

    Challenge 

    With almond production expected to exceed 180,000 tonnes by 2030, the rapidly growing Australian almond industry required localised research to enhance yield and efficiency. To remain globally competitive, advancements in water use, pollination and labour efficiency were essential.

    Response 

    The project created an independent research orchard, free from commercial constraints, to accelerate trials and innovation. The Almond Centre of Excellence serves as a hub for world-class research, enabling industry stakeholders to test and demonstrate new technologies and production practices that enable the Australian almond industry to sustainably compete in the global market.

    Benefit

    The facility has gained widespread industry support, hosting over 20 research projects and serving as a premier site for Australian horticultural research. It enables studies on topics such as soil amendments, rootstock and varietal performance, tree spacing, and nutrition management. 

    Since reaching maturity in 2022, the orchard has hosted six major events and welcomed over 600 delegations from various organisations.

    Key features of the facility include: 

    • Orchard Design: Trials range from conventional plantings to high-density systems, exploring future replanting strategies and innovative harvesting techniques.
    • Variety & Rootstock Evaluation: Accelerated testing of high-yield, self-fertile, disease-resistant varieties for improved quality and resilience.
    • Irrigation & Nutrition Management: A state-of-the-art fertigation system supports precision research in water and nutrient efficiency.
    • Processing Facility: Small-scale hulling and shelling allow efficient varietal quality assessments, supporting breeding projects.
    • Training & Extension: The site hosts field days, training sessions, and industry presentations, with full-time Industry Development Officers supporting grower education.
    • Infrastructure & Machinery: The facility includes offices, a presentation room, a laboratory, worker amenities, and specialised orchard machinery.

     

    Project update: November 2022

    The Almond Centre of Excellence’s Experimental Orchard at Loxton, South Australia emerged as a valuable resource for industry stakeholders in 2022.

    Five years after it was established, the facility features a growing range of ongoing research and development trials that focus on how growers can operate as efficiently and sustainably as possible.

    As the year unfolded and pandemic restrictions on people movement lifted, the orchard has become a focal point for workshops, demonstrations and field days for growers, researchers and service providers.

    The Centre continues to work on higher density orchard trials, tree architecture, irrigation efficiency, integrated pest management, improved bee habitat, new varietals and rootstocks as well as an increasing focus on ag-tech innovation including autonomous farm machinery and laser technology to control birds.

    During the year planning also began on installing fish-screens on the orchard’s suction pumps to eliminate native fish kill and significantly reduce foreign matter infiltrating the irrigation system. Once river levels drop in the New Year, the fish screens will be installed.

    The ACE Orchard has become a showcase of so many aspects of growing that there is increasing recognition within the grower community that a visit to the orchard is now key part of any process for change on farm.

    Commercial companies have also embraced the concept. Service providers involved with autonomous machinery, connectivity solutions, irrigation, moisture monitoring, frost fan, chemical and fertilizer businesses have approached the ABA to conduct trials. The orchard is already showing its potential to be a focus for commercial company trials that will benefit the industry.

    Details

    This project was a strategic levy investment in the Hort Innovation Almond Fund

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    Related industries

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