May 2019 - 9

participants of the orchard prototype
at the New Zealand Plant and Food
Research Center.
Trees are grown in a planar cordon
system, with multiple vertical stems to
control and distribute the canopy growth.
" The tendency is to see the tree
design as innovative, " Tustin said. " We
use the natural growth of the tree to
enhance fruit production. "
A FOPS 2-D planar cordon system
was in its fifth leaf. Trees in the
systems are about 7 feet or 5 feet
apart, in either a vertical cordon or a
V-cordon. In the vertical cordon, 10
uprights are spaced about 11 inches
apart. In the V-cordon, 12 uprights are
spaced about 10 inches apart.
Tustin says the research team is
looking to harvest about 80 or 90
bins per acre this year, with the goal
of reaching 100 or 110 bins an acre
next year.
The target with this system is to
reach yields of 150 to 200 bins per acre,
Tustin said. With an ultimate goal to
reach 80 percent light interception,
Tustin said the 7-foot tree spacing
showed approximately 60 percent light
interception and the 5-foot tree spacing
allows for 70 percent light interception.
Canopy structure crucial
Current and future automation will
also work well with the system. " We
need to have very simple 2-dimensional
canopies designed to be machine
amendable, " Tustin said. " Any benefit
being done by labor has a higher return
(on investment). "
Tustin initially introduced FOPS to
IFTA during its 2017 annual conference
in British Columbia, Canada. His
self-described " provocative " Carlson
Lecture took attendees to " the edge of
the fruit universe. "
He encouraged growers to consider
a planar cordon concept that features
multiple stems to control and distribute
the canopy growth. The ultimate goal
is to increase light into the canopy.
Bi-axis trees offer many benefits, Tustin
said. Not only filling in space with less
trees and closer rows, but bi-axis trees
grow 30 percent more dry weight than a
single leader tree.
" If we manage light and the canopy,
we don't see the need to renew uprights
at all, " he said, noting pruning increases
vegetative growth. " We prune too
much. A little is good, too much is bad.
These planar cordons help distribute
growth on the tree evenly. The planar
canopy inhibits branching from apical
dominance. This minimal branching
and growth allows the tree to devote its
resources directly to producing fruit.
" Fruit is the only growth regulator I
trust, " Tustin said. " It's the cheapest one
you have. "
Canopy management is best achieved
by using the minimum branches
needed to achieve the maximum
light interception - getting more fruit
from less tree, Tustin said. Quantity is
important, but quality must be a focus
of tree management.
" We're getting substantial fruit for
light interception, " he said.
Properly managed orchards in current
FGN | MAY 2019 | 9
system, he said, can max out at 100 bins/
acre, but this production will level out as
a function of orchard design.
Tustin acknowledged that while the
planar canopy system looks promising,
growers may be hesitant to implement
the philosophy.
" We've got a heck of a lot invested in
current orchards and that's not going
to go away overnight because some guy
says we should have upright fruiting
shoots, " he said.
Tustin voiced concerns about
robotics being forced upon the
industry without enough emphasis
being put on orchard structures that
can accommodate such equipment.
" Let's bring robotics to amend
horticulture, " he said. FGN
Stuart Tustin, Crop and Fruit Production Systems Group, of the New Zealand Institute for
Plant & Food Research, discusses the Future Orchard Production System. Photo: Gary Pullano

May 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of May 2019