What was it all about?

Running from 2017 to early 2020, this project helped deliver technical advice to almond growers, promoting best practice, facilitating the adoption of R&D, and supporting decision-making within almond businesses and the broader industry.

Specifically, the investment supported the roles and activities of Almond Board of Australia industry development officers (IDOs). There was also support for an entomologist to work with the IDOs and to provide a point of contact for researchers and industry regarding pest research.

At a broad level, project work for the IDOs included:

• Thirteen industry fields days, eight workshops, 11 domestic tours and various training initiatives
• Input into the industry communications program, with nearly 30 articles produced for the In A Nutshell magazine
• Production of fact sheets to take knowledge from projects to growers
• Face-to-face and other direct engagements with industry participants
• Establishment and management of demonstration plantings at the Almond Centre of Excellence, in conjunction with other projects, to promote best practise
• Support for and participation in other industry R&D projects as required
• Engagement across a range of R&D and industry committees.

Throughout these activities there was a focus on key areas including:

• Pests and disease control
• Healthy hives and pollination efficiency
• Nursery tree standards
• Rootstocks and new varieties
• On-farm water use efficiency and soil health
• Food safety and quality
• Biosecurity
• Maintaining industry capacity

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The project produced the below resources for growers:

• Almond Production Spreadsheet and its instruction document
• Fact sheet: Viruses in Australian almonds
• Fact sheet: Reducing the risk of spray drift – haloxyfop
• Fact sheet:Implementing best practice for orchard hygiene
• Fact sheet: Australian almond variety – Vela
• Fact sheet: Australian almond variety – Maxima
• Fact sheet: Australian breeding varieties update 2017/18
• Fact sheet: Drought strategies for almonds
• Fact sheet: Managing mice in Australian almonds
• Fact sheet: Carpophilus beetle monitoring guidelines
• Fact sheet: Managing food safety risks in almonds
• Fact sheet: Information on canker diseases 
• Video: Best practice for orchard hygiene with Brett Rosenzweig
• Video: Carob moth and orchard management
• Video: Almond integrated disease management
• Video: Almond Integrated pest management
• Video: Almond center of excellence update July 2018
• Video: Australian Almond breeding program & evaluation – Maxima, Carina and Mira
• An Almond Centre for Excellence orchard update, which was presented at the 2017 Australian Almond R&D Forum & Field Day held in October.
• See the Australian Almonds interactive flowering synchronisation tool, which was released at the end of April 2018 and the flowering reporting tool
• Read an update on the experimental orchard at the Almond Centre for Excellence, in the Autumn 2018  In A Nutshell edition, see p18
• Access all the presentation slides from the 2018 Australian Almond Conference held in October.

See more on the Australia Almonds website