NUCIS number 12. September 2004. 52 pages (full ... - IAMZ - ciheam

More documents

Recommendations

Info

and ‘Tomasa’, (Figures 4, 6, 12 and 14)are three excellent cultivars of Málaga,but they are harvested later than ‘Pilonga’and ‘Temprana’, at the end of October,when most of the Spanish chestnut productionis concentrated and prices areusually lower. Moreover, ‘Capilla’ and‘Tomasa’ showed the highest percentagesof split nuts and ‘Corriente’ the highestpercentage of poly-embryonic nuts. InHuelva four main cultivars should be promoted,‘Comisaria’, ‘Helechal’, ‘PlantaAlájar’ and ‘Vázquez’ (Figures 5, 8, 11and 15) due to their big nut size and lowpercentage of split nuts. ‘Planta Alájar’showed a higher percentage of poly-embryonicnuts. In comparison with cultivarsof Málaga, all cultivars in Huelva are harvestedat the end of October, main periodfor chestnut harvesting in Spain, whenprices are lower. Most of the cultivarsfrom Andalusia produce pollen, since onlyone accession studied of ‘Helechal’ wassterile. The most frequent type of malecatkin found was longuistaminate andonly ‘Planta Alájar’ and one accession of‘Dieguina’ showed mesostaminate catkins.‘Pelón’ (Figure 9) is a very spreadcultivar in Huelva that produces the smallestnuts in Andalusia what makes it lessinteresting for present market. These cultivarsare being collected and introducedin the Universidad de Santiago de Compostelato establish a core collection.REFERENCESCarballeira, A., 1983. Bioclimatologíade Galicia. Fundación Pedro Barrié dela Maza. ISBN: 84-85728-27.Pereira, S.; Fernandez, J. 1997. Loscultivares autóctonos de castaño (Castaneasativa Mill.) en Galicia. MonografíasI.N.I.A., 99: 1-533. ISBN: 84-7498-461-0Pereira, S.; B. Diaz, B.; Ciordia, M.; Ascasibar,J; Ramos, A.M.; Sau, F. 2001.Spanish chestnut cultivars. HortScience,36 (2): 344-347.Pereira, S.; Ramos, A.M. 2003. Característicasmorfológicas e isoenzimáticasde los cultivares de castaño (Castaneasativa Mill.) de Andalucía. Monografíasdel INIA, 13, 160 pages.Ramos, A.M.; Pereira, S. 2004. Geneticrelationship between Castanea sativaMill. cultivars from North-western toSouth Spain based on morphologicaltraits and isoenzymes. Genetic Resourcesand Crop Evolution (in press).S. Pereira, A.M. RamosUniversidad de Santiago de Compostela,Escola Politécnica Superior, Departament ofProducción Vegetal, Campus de Lugo, 27002Lugo, SpainE-mail: spereira@lugo.usc.esTHE WORLD MACADAMIAINDUSTRY AND RESEARCHACTIVITIESINTRODUCTIONMacadamia is one of the world’s finestnuts. The kernel is consumed as salted orunsalted snack food, as chocolate enrobedconfectionary, and as an ingredientin products such as biscuits or ice-cream.The kernel has a high oil content (70-80%) and most of the oil is mono-unsaturatedlipids with 65.0 and 18.5% oleic andpalmitoleic acid respectively (Cavaletto etal., 1966). Oil content has been shown tobe an important component of quality;kernels with a specific gravity of 1.0 (oilcontent of more than 72%) or less wereidentified as having superior eating androasting qualities and are classed as firstgrade kernels or the commercial standard.Total sugar content of raw M. integrifoliakernel ranges from between 3 to5% (Riperton et al. 1938), the majority ofwhich is sucrose.The Macadamia genus is a member ofthe Proteaceace, which is a characteristicGondwana family (Johnson and Briggs,1983). Of the nine species, seven are endemicto Australia, with the other two occurringon the islands of Indonesia. Onlytwo of these species, M. integrifolia andM. tetraphylla produce edible kernel. Thesespecies occur as a medium sizedevergreen tree in the lowland subtropicalrainforests of eastern Australia. The fruitconsists of a fleshy husk (pericarp) surroundingthe hard shell (testa) and theedible kernel (embryo and cotyledons)(Gross 1995).WORLD PRODUCTIONMacadamias represent less than 2% ofthe world tree nut market. The market ischaracterised by undersupply and pricefluctuations (Hargreaves 2003).AustraliaAustralia is the main macadamia producerwith approximately 40% of the worldproduction or 10.000 t of kernel (Table 1).Despite recent surveys indicating thatabout 1/3 of the industry is new plantings,industry growth that was forecast at 15%yearly has not been reached (Hargreaves2003) due to poor seasons in 2002 and2003. The major growing regions arearound Alstonville (28 o 51’S, 153 o 21’E) inNorthern NSW and Bundaberg (24 o 33’ S,152 o 00’ E) in South Eastern Queenslandwith approximately 45 and 35 % of theAustralian crop produced in these areasrespectively. There is renewed interest toidentify new growing areas in Australia formacadamia production. The major marketsfor Australian production are USA,Japan, Germany and China.USAMacadamias were first commercialized inHawaii and most of the USA productioncontinues to originate from these islands.The Hawaiian industry is characterised bymature orchards with new plantings atmuch smaller levels than for the otherproducing countries (Vidgen 2003). Domesticsales, including duty-free, are amajor market of USA production. Exportsare shipped predominately to Japan.South AfricaOver 45% of the trees in South Africa areless than 5 years of age and there is thepotential for significant growth of this industry(Lee 2003). Production of kernelhas grown by about 30% between 2000and 2003 to approximately 3000 t despitepoor production seasons in 2002 and2003. Half its production is exported toUSA, with Europe being the next majormarket (25%).OthersMacadamias are also produced in Kenya(1500 t), Malawi (1000 t), Brazil (500 t),New Zealand (35 t), Thailand and CostaRica.HORTICULTUREPropagationMacadamias are generally clonally propagated.Seedling rootstocks are commonin Australia using open pollinated seedfrom the cultivar H2. Seedlings from othercultivars have also been used to a smallerextent. Practical experience suggeststhat the roots system is not well developedin cuttings of some varieties in Australia.There is little information to guideTable 1. Macadamia worldwide kernel production (t) (www.inc.treenuts.org)Region 2002 Import Production Domestic Export 2003Carry-overCarry-overAustralia 800 0 9.900 2.000 7.900 800Africa 43 0 6.440 190 6.250 30USA 2.000 7.466 5.500 12.216 770 2.000Latin America 170 0 3.370 300 3.070 170Total 3.013 7.466 25.210 14.706 17.990 3.00036 FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 12 September 2004
ootstock choice, although recently an extensiverootstock trial of own rooted cutting,seedling and clonal rootstocks using12 cultivars was established in Australia(Hardner and McConchie, 2003). Suitablescion material is selected from the desiredcultivar and girdled to increase itscarbohydrate content. Scions are then eithergrafted or budded onto the rootstock.Initial results show that budding successrate is affected by the rootstock and scioncombination, which is consistent withanecdotal evidence from macadamia propagators.Orchard designOrchards are established at varying densitiesfrom 10mx10m (100 trees per ha) to7mx4m (357 trees/ha). Tree size variesamong cultivars (Hardner et al. 2002) andmay influence planting density. There hasbeen trend in recent years to establish orchardsat higher densities to offset highinitial capital investments at an earlierage. In addition, there has been somepractical experimentation with high densityplanting (5mx2m) (Bell and Bell, 2001)that produced high yields of between 8and 10 t/ha before canopy management,but there is little knowledge of the laterage performance of trees to evaluate thissystem.IrrigationOrchards located in Queensland are generallyirrigated, especially in the Bundabergregion where there is a significantlylower annual rainfall than in NorthernNSW where the majority of orchards arenot irrigated. Average annual rainfall forAlstonville in Northern NSW and Bundabergis 1600 mm and 1140mm respectively.Stephenson et al. (2003) reportedthat water stress at different phenologicalstages including floral development, immaturenut drop and nut maturation hadadverse effect on yield through decreasein nut number and nut size. Adverseeffects of irrigation in Northern NSW havealso been observed. Trochoulias andJohns (1992) found that NIS yield per unittrunk area decreased with irrigation by upto 10% at excessive rates of irrigation.Variable yield, water use and quality responsesbetween cultivars to irrigationhave been reported for macadamiasgrown in Bundaberg (Searle and Lu,2003).NutritionAn extensive account of macadamia nutritionwas undertaken as part of a reviewof macadamia by Nagao and Hirae(1992). Orchards in Australia have beenestablished on a range of soil types thathave differing chemical and physical properties,Stephenson et al. (1986) observedthe soil nutrient levels and fertiliserapplication on three common soil typesused to grow macadamias; red podsolic,krasnozem and sandy red earth, andfound varied nutrient levels and fertiliserapplications. Macronutrients are generallyapplied as granular fertilizers althoughin regions where irrigation is used fertigationmay also be used. Micronutrients areoften recommended as foliar sprays forrapid amendments of nutrient deficiencies.The methods of determining nutrientrequirements throughout the industryvary; however they generally involve oneor a combination of soil nutrient analysis,leaf nutrient analysis, crop removal replacementor crop logging. Foliar nutrientcontent varies with leaf age, leaf position,time of year and recent work by Huett etal. (2001) showed that content of severalleaf parameters including nitrogen andphosphorus increased with decreasedshading and concluded that the currentsampling protocols for determination ofleaf nitrogen and phosphorus levels werenot reliable.Flowering and fruit developmentInitial flowering generally occurs betweenthe 3 rd and 5 th year after planting. Flowersare hermaphroditic and borne on racemesthat contain between 100 to 300 flowerseach (Figure 1), between 6 to 35%of these flowers develop into immaturefruit (Urata 1954) and only 0.3% will remainat maturity (Ito 1980). It is traditionallyaccepted that flowers are located onwood that is at least 2 to 3 years of ageand there appears to be variation betweencultivars. The major pollinator appearsto be the European honeybee, althoughthe Australian native species of TrigonaFigure 1. Flowering raceme in M. integrifoliahas been observed. Flowering in Australianorchards occurs in September, thereare significant differences in timing of floweringbetween cultivars although thereis still high potential for cross-pollinationbetween cultivars (Boyton and Hardner,2002).Abscission of immature fruit occursthroughout fruit development, howeverthe maximum rates are observed from 3to 8 weeks after anthesis (Sakai and Nagao1984). Increases in fruit diameter andfruit fresh weight follow a single sigmoidalpattern in which growth continues until 14to 15 weeks after anthesis and 15 to 16weeks after anthesis for fruit diameterand fresh weight respectively. Truemanand Turnbull (1994) found that shell hardeningoccurred between 12 and 15weeks after anthesis and effectively ceasedincreases in fruit diameter althoughtotal fruit dry weight per branch increaseduntil 20 weeks post anthesis where monitoringceased. Increases in dry weight aftershell hardening are due to increasesin kernel mass, the majority of which is oilaccumulation (McConchie, et al. 1996). InAustralia, mature fruit drop begins fromMarch to April and can extend until Octoberfor some cultivars.HarvestingIn most Australian orchards, nut-in-huskis mechanically harvested from theground (Figure 2), although hand harvestingmay be used in excessively wet conditionsand in very steep areas of the orchard.Nuts are harvested every 4-6weeks to prevent deterioration of kernelon the ground (Mason and Wells, 1993).Tree shaking and Ethephon have beenused both experimentally and commerciallyto promote nut drop and so reducethe number of harvests, however theyhave not been widely adopted to date.Ethephon has been shown to be veryeffective but the response of leaf and nutdrop can vary with cultivar, time and methodof application and growing region.There are also concerns about the effectof Ethephon application on return andlong-term yields as variable responseshave been reported (Trueman, 2003,Penter et al., 2003).Figure 2. Mechanical harvesting of fallenmacadamia nuts in AustraliaFAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 12 September 200437
Page 1 and 2: N U C I SN E W S L E T T E RInforma
Page 3 and 4: The Nut Network on the webIn additi
Page 5 and 6: Figure 4.- Hard turron ‘Alicante
Page 7 and 8: Figure 2. Percentage of damaged you
Page 9 and 10: ALMOND GENES IN P. webbiiAnalysis o
Page 11 and 12: GENETIC MAPPINGSeveral intraspecifi
Page 13 and 14: Figure 1. Infected shoots showing b
Page 15 and 16: lerance in almond. Acta Horticultur
Page 17 and 18: (000)Tons250020001500100050001923/2
Page 19 and 20: Picture 4. - Pistachio shelling mac
Page 21 and 22: Figure 3. Tree and nuts of ‘Mateu
Page 23 and 24: S. Kafkas 1 , I. Acar 2 , H. Gozel
Page 25 and 26: B. E. Ak standing close to a young
Page 27 and 28: Leaves of P.veraThese forests exten
Page 29 and 30: Nuts of P. atlantica sub-sp. mutica
Page 31 and 32: GERMPLASM COLLECTIONOF Pistacia AT
Page 33 and 34: WHERE IN A PISTACHIO TREEIS Xanthom
Page 35: Figure 4.- Capilla Figure 5.- Comis
Page 39 and 40: Hargreaves G. 2003. World round-up
Page 41 and 42: NOTES AND NEWSIN MEMORIAM:MY PROFES
Page 43 and 44: Participants of the VI Internationa
Page 45 and 46: (2000) and finally Tarragona, Spain
Page 47 and 48: Plant Systematics and Evolution, 23
Page 49 and 50: static pollen applicator developmen
Page 51 and 52: Kevers, C; Bisbis, B; Crevecoeur, M

NUCIS number 12. September 2004. 52 pages (full ... - IAMZ - ciheam

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?