The Avocado Industry Council has published a new guide for growers to overcome the problem of irregular bearing.

Chief executive Jen Scoular says the avocado industry has the potential to triple in value, but 'growth is constrained by the impacts of irregular bearing; a situation where trees fail to produce a viable crop every year”.

Jen Scoular says tree management is important in the avocado industry.

‘Reading your trees: A New Zealand avocado grower's guide' aims to help growers implement tailored orchard management strategies to mitigate the effects of irregular bearing.

Project lead AIC laboratory manager Toni Elmsly says one of the factors, which has lead to the development of the guide, is growers' reliance on prescriptive or ‘one size fits all' tree management.

'Every orchard situation is different, which makes it difficult to prescribe one set of management strategies for irregular bearing – here we are giving growers the tools to assess their individual needs based on the signs their own trees are displaying,”
Toni says the industry's most successful growers are those who have the ability to identify and understand the symptoms their trees are displaying and respond with appropriate management inputs.

The guide defines indicators of an ‘ideal' tree at key stages of the growth cycle. Growers are then able to assess and rate their own trees using scales in the associated workbook. The guide also offers inputs and tactics growers can consider to address issues they have identified.

Grower and contributor to the guide, Hilton Paul says Reading Your Trees is an exciting development.

'It is a practical hands-on tool that should be used consistently all year.”

The guide was introduced to the industry at the 2011 AGA annual general meeting in Whangarei on Friday.

It will also be handed out at the Bay of Plenty Grower Forum on Wednesday, August 17 and then a free copy will be sent to all members of the NZ Avocado Growers' Association Inc.