INDUSTRY NEWS
Century Orchards Technical Officer Gemma Nunn in the Loxton orchard where they have been trialling SEGURIS ® Flexi .
SEGURIS ® Flexi – a flexible option for almonds
CENTURY Orchards grows 700ha of almonds at Loxton in South Australia ’ s Riverland . Approximately half of their trees are of the Nonpareil variety with the remainder a mix of Carmel , Peerless , Price and Monterey amongst others . All trees are on drippers and approximately 100ha of their orchard is younger trees with some of these only recently coming into production . Three quarters of Century ’ s almonds go to export markets including Europe , China , India and the Middle East , with the remainder sold domestically . Technical Officer , Century Orchards , Gemma Nunn , said 2022-23 has been a very difficult growing season , with above average rainfall and very high disease pressure . In most seasons the main disease issues for Century Orchards ’ almonds are hull rot and rust . “ We normally spray roughly every three weeks , whether it ' s fungicide or nutrient sprays depending on the season and disease pressure . This season we ’ ve had consistent rainfall events , which makes scheduling sprays very difficult ,” Miss Nunn said . “ Rust has been a major problem this season , mainly in the older trees . " It gets into the tops of the trees and it can be difficult to get good spray coverage in the tops of our older taller trees . “ We ’ ve also seen hull rot in the majority of our varieties this season , not just in Nonpareil where it would normally be the biggest issue . “ We wouldn ’ t normally see hull rot in our younger trees like we did this season .” As Technical Officer , Miss Nunn ’ s role is to run trials to look at new pest and disease management options as well as agronomic management . “ We need to adhere to market requirements as they change , so new chemistry is always good if products are removed from certain markets ," she said . “ This is the first season that we ’ ve used SEGURIS ® Flexi . We had seen data on it at the Almond Conference and were interested to see how it stacked up against existing products in our rotation ." Century Orchards trialled SEGURIS ® Flexi at hull split in late January on about 100ha of predominantly younger trees and also on some older blocks . Other fungicide and nutrient sprays were applied at other times as per their normal program . The data collected showed a noticeable difference in disease levels on blocks where SEGURIS ® Flexi was applied . “ We put on one application of SEGURIS ® Flexi at 125mL / 100L at hull split and compared it to our current hull split fungicide as well as some other options ,” Miss Nunn said . “ Spraying SEGURIS ® Flexi at hull split definitely helped to suppress hull rot compared to the blocks sprayed with other products at that timing .” Miss Nunn also highlighted the increased flexibility offered by SEGURIS ® Flexi compared to other products in the market . With sustainability at the forefront of Century ’ s operations , fungicides with a single mode of action are a major advantage for their spray program . “ The single mode of action in SEGURIS ® Flexi means it ' s more host specific , so there ’ s less impact on non-target organisms . It also allows for easier rotation in our spray program , so hopefully resistance can be kept at bay for a longer period of time ,” Miss Nunn said . “ The 14-day withholding period of SEGURIS ® Flexi is great , especially in our younger varieties that are harvested first . It gives us more flexibility than other products that have 21 or 28-day withholding periods .” Miss Nunn is planning further trials to look at the most effective way to incorporate SEGURIS ® Flexi into their spray program in coming seasons . “ Any yield benefits can ’ t really be quantified this season as the main impacts of improved hull rot suppression won ’ t be seen until next season ,” she said . “ We ’ ll sit down after harvest and have a look at price comparisons and seasonal conditions , but SEGURIS ® Flexi will potentially be a bigger part of our spray program next season .”
industry . australianalmonds . com . au
17