What is it all about?

This investment is developing and evaluating strategies and technologies for efficient and reliable apple and pear orchard soil and nutrient management. Through the research completed in this project, the research team will develop new knowledge linking orchard management practice with soil health and evaluate the economic impact of potential changes to orchard soil management on overall orchard profitability.

Furthermore, this project will provide the apple industry with foundational knowledge on the eco-credentials of apple orcharding in the context of carbon capture and storage, water and nutrient use efficiency and the role of soil health in high quality fruit production.

A fully integrated regional approach to this project will be adopted where researchers from each region will be involved in prioritising and implementing research and demonstration trials/sites. Growers will be directly involved through hosting trial sites for research and participating in eco-credential analysis through the SWAN Systems platform. 

Additionally, a partnership has been established with an orchard business analyst to undertake an economic impact analysis of recommended soil health management practices in the context of overall orchard profitability.