Lesson Structure: Fruit Production – Temperate Climate BHT218

There are 8 lessons:

1  Introduction to Temperate Fruit Growing

• How do you Decide what to Grow?: Aspects of Crop Selection, Scope of Temperate Fruit Growing
• Understanding the Botany
• The Inflorescence
• Fruits: How Seed Forms
• Modification of Fruits: Succulent fruits, Composite fruits
• Key to Main Types of Fruits
• Buds
• Glossary of Terms: Morphological Changes in Plants

2  Establishing an Orchard

• Establishing an Orchard – What to Consider
• Considerations in Choosing a Site: Size, Location, Climate, Calculating Effective Rainfall, Biological – Pest and Diseases, Existing Vegetation, Water, Other

3  General Cultural Practices

• Understanding Soils: Physical characteristics of soil, Soil texture, Soil structure, Chemical characteristics of soils, Soil water content, Water, Air, Simple soil tests, Naming the soil
• Pests and Diseases
• Dealing with Fruit Tree Problems: Identifying the problem, What are the symptoms?
• Pests: Chewing insects, Sucking Insects, Phytoplasma
• Other Pest Problems: Mealy bug, Nematodes, Sawflies, Scale, Birds
• Diseases: Three Types (Fungal disease, Viruses, Bacteria), Disease Types (Leaf blight, Canker, Botryitis, Galls, Leaf Spot, Mildew, Rots, Blossom end rot, Collar rot, Sooty mould
• Plant Viruses: Virus Control, Wilt drooping foliage
• Integrated Pest Management: Insecticide use in IPM, What Does IPM Involve?
• Chemical Methods of Pest Control: Law, Chemical Labels, A General Chemical Control Routine Program for Spraying Deciduous Fruit trees
• Non-Chemical Methods: Environmental Affects on Plant Health, Common Environmental Problems
• Physical Plant Protection Methods
• Weed Control: Preventative Measures, Control Methods
• Plant Nutrition: What Nutrients do Plants Need? The Nutrient Elements, Major Elements, The Micronutrients
• Deficiences and Toxicities: Indicators of Deficiency and Toxicity
• Fertilizers: Types of Fertilisers, Choosing the Right Fertiliser, Applying Fertilisers, How Much to Apply? Natural Fertilisers
• Pruning Fruit Trees: Before pruning
• Flower or Vegetative Buds: Location of Fruit Buds
• Water, Drainage and Irrigation: Water is Important to Plants, Classes of Soil Moisture, Soils and Transpiration
• Measuring Water Available to Plants: Calculating Field Capacity, Calculating Permanent Wilting Point (PWP), Tensiometers
• Drainage: Testing Drainage Capability, Improving Drainage, Improving Infiltration
• When to Irrigate: Scheduling Irrigation, Important Elements, Period of Watering, Cyclic Watering, Pulse Watering, Water Extraction by Roots
• Irrigation Types: Flood Irrigation, Sprinkler Irrigation, Trickle Irrigation, Irrigation system efficiency

4  Tree Fruits

• Deciduous Fruit Trees: Winter Chilling Requirements, How to Grow Deciduous Fruit Trees, Choosing Your Varieties, Pollination Requirements
• Directory of Fruit Trees and their Requirements: Apple, Apricot, Cherry, Fig, Loquat, Nashi or Asian Pear, Olive, Peach and Nectarine, Pear, Pepino, Plum, Pomegranate, Quince, Tree Tomato or Tamarillo
• Using Compost

5  Vines, Nuts & Berries

• Nut Growing: Walnut, Chestnuts, Almond, Peanut, Macadamia, Pecan, American Hazelnut, Filbert, Pistachio, Other Edible Nuts
• Vines: Passionfruit, Chinese Gooseberry, Grape
• Berry Fruit: Quick Guide to Choosing Berries, Strawberries, Raspberries, Cape Gooseberry, Gooseberry, Mulberry, Blueberry
• Varieties for Cool- Temperate Climates: Elderberry, Currants, American Cranberry, Bramble Fruits, Loganberry, Other Brambles

6  Citrus

• Citrus: Citrus Species, Temperature Tolerance, Planting Citrus, Culture, Some General Rules for Citrus Growing, Problems
• Citrus Directory: Cumquat, Grapefruit, Lemon, Lime, Mandarin, Orange, Sour Orange, Tangelo

7  Cultural Management of a Fruit Plantation or Orchard

• The Maintenance Program
• The Production Plan: Example of a Simple Flow Chart for Cape Gooseberries

8  Marketing Your Produce

• Marketing your Produce
• Considering your Market: Direct sales to the public, Sales through major markets, Contract growing
• Market Research: Steps in Market Research, Gathering Information, What do you need to research?
• Standards: Cost efficiency, Profit, Sales price, Quality standards, Quantity standards
• Example of Harvesting Procedures for a Berry Crop: Harvesting Techniques, Post Harvest Treatment, Cooling, Cooling Methods

Learning Goals: Fruit Production – Temperate Climate BHT218

• Identify different types of fruit crops, which can be successfully grown in your region
• Develop a plan for the establishment of an orchard.
• Determine the cultural requirements for different fruit crops in your locality (Part A)
• Determine the cultural requirements for different fruit crops in your locality (Part B)
• Determine the cultural requirements for different fruit crops in your locality (Part C)
• Determine the cultural requirements for different fruit crops in your locality (Part D)
• Develop a calendar for cultural management of a fruit plantation, or orchard
• Formulate appropriate methods for marketing specific fruit crops grown in your locality

Practicals:

• Compile a resource file different sources of information regarding commercial fruit varieties.
• Compare the facilities used to produce different fruit crops, in a specified locality.
• Determine criteria for selecting a fruit variety to grow as a commercial crop in your locality.
• Select different fruit varieties with commercial potential for a specified location.
• Analyse the physical layout of a specified orchard.
• Determine the scope of commercial fruit growing in a specified locality.
• Demonstrate standard soil tests to three different soils to determine:
  • Soil type
  • pH
  • Drainage
  • Water holding capacity
• Evaluate the three different soils tested to determine their suitability for growing different fruit varieties.
• Analyse the culture
• Watering
• Weed control
• Soil management
• Pruning
• Fertilising
• Pest control
• Disease control
• Determine soil management practices, including:
• Nutrition
• Soil structure
• Cultivation
• Weed control
• Determine the susceptibility of four specified fruit species to pest and disease problems.
• Explain how to control twenty different, specified pests and diseases, on different fruit varieties grown.
• Develop sets of guidelines for pruning three different types of fruits.
• Determine the factors which are critical to growing fruit trees in your locality.
• Determine criteria to select a site for fruit growing in your locality.
• Compare the physical layout of two different orchards you visit.
• Prepare a plan for establishing a fruit growing area, in your locality, including:
  • Concept layout plan drawn to scale
  • Materials list (including plants)
  • Cost estimates for establishment.
• Analyse three different marketing systems in the fruit industry, including at local, national and international levels.
• Explain four common reasons for price fluctuations in the fruit industry.
• Compare different fruit crops in relation to different factors, including:
  • Storage requirements
  • Storage life
  • Harvesting time
  • Shelf life
  • Transport to market
• Evaluate the presentation and packaging of three different fruits, for marketing through different marketing systems.
• Analyse different marketing strategies used by a specific fruit grower.
• Develop a marketing strategy, including:
  • Marketing stages
  • Marketing schedule (ie. timetable)
  • Estimated marketing costs
  • Handling procedures
  • Promotions, for a specific fruit crop.
• Differentiate between the cultural practices undertaken by different growers, on the same crop, grown in different localities.
• Determine the cultural practices necessary to grow different fruit crops for a twelve month period, on a specified site.
• Prepare a monthly calender, covering a twelve month period, for cultural practices in a fruit plantation or orchard.

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UNDERSTANDING SOILS:

Understanding soils is vital to successful viticulture. The success or otherwise with which vines may be able to grow in soil will greatly depend upon the soil’s physical and chemical properties.

Soil is important to the plant in providing the following:

a) Nutrition:  the plant derives its food from nutrients in the soil.

b) Support:  the soil holds the plant firm and stops it falling over.

c) Water and air:  roots absorb both water and air. The soil must contain both. A soil with too much air leaves the plant starved for water. A soil with too much water leaves the plant starved for air.

Different soils have different characteristic with respect to the above factors. For example, a sandy soil provides less support than a clay soil. A clay soil provides less air, but has a greater capacity to hold water than sand. An organic soil has a good ability to hold water, but doesn’t always provide good support.

Physical characteristics of soil

Soil is made up of the following components:

• mineral particles – sand, silt, clay, and other minerals
• organic matter – humus and the remains of plants and animals
• water and dissolved nutrients
• air supplying oxygen to the plants
• living organisms (worms, fungi, insects, micro-organisms etc)

These things affect the soil’s ability to grow plants. It is possible to grow some plants in soils without living organisms, organic matter or mineral particles, but plant roots must have air, water and nutrients. Generally, however, you will require some amount of each of the above components to get the best growth from your plant.

There are basically four component particles in soil:

1. Gravel: particles larger than 2mm
2. Sand: particles between 0.02 to 2mm in diameter
3. Silt: particles between 0.02 and 0.002mm in diameter
4. Colloids: particles less than 0.002mm in diameter