The Pistachio Growers’ Association held their Annual Event on 19th and 20th September 2024, in Mildura. There were over 50 growers and associates in attendance on the day which is one of the biggest turn outs post-Covid. The event included a full-day symposium held at the Mildura Grand, followed by a tour of the SuniTAFE smart farm the next day to observe some of the latest technology for irrigation and pest management being trialed at the farm through a partnership with the Mallee Regional Innovation Centre.

PGA was fortunate to have a fantastic line-up of speakers for the symposium.

• Nigel Carey, CEO of Nut Producers Australia, shared an update on the pistachio market including global production, a look at forecasted growth, challenges and insights for the Australian market, and a comparison between the Australian and US market.
• Dr Paul Horne, Director of IPM Technologies, talked about integrated pest management (IPM) and Helicoverpa in the pistachio industry. Dr Horne left growers with an impression of the value of an IPM strategy, and suggested controls for Helicoverpa which included the use of beneficial insects including predatory beetles and bugs, cultural controls including dust mitigation, and pesticides.
• Dr Uwe Stroeher, Microbiologist and R&D Manager at Neutrog, spoke about the role of microbes in building soil health. Neutrog have been working with Century Orchards, an almond and pistachio orchard near Loxton, SA. Dr Stroeher covered the role of biologicals in nutrient acquisition, plant pathogen inhibition, production of plant growth hormones and for carbon capture and sequestration.
• Michael Dalton, Research Scientist at Sentek, gave an enlightening presentation on the role of water management in the canopy environment of pistachios orchards. Sentek have been monitoring soil water content at Permedah Fruits, a pistachio orchard in Paringa, SA since 2014. Michael stressed the importance of multi-factor monitoring to solve the complex challenges that orchards face which include chill, disease and pest pressures, and dieback.

Woven amongst these speakers were updates from the PGA staff who have been busy over the last year.

• Dr Maha Mahadevan, PGA Research Officer produced three reports on research conducted in the previous season that covered juvenile shoot dieback, the performance of the Kerman variety of pistachios in Australia, and findings on a trial studying the correlation between polymer use and blanks. Maha’s time in 2023/24 has consisted of polymer trial’s being conducted in Waikerie, SA, continuation of the chill and blanks research in Kyalite, VIC, and perhaps most excitingly, progressing the benchmarking reports which are produced for grower members of the PGA, allowing them to see where they sit compared to other growers within the industry; measuring production for both young and mature trees using yield per hectare and per tree, and quality characteristics such as nut size and dark stain.
• Kelsy Burns, PGA Extension Officer, commenced with PGA in July 2024, to lead a five-year project aimed at development, extension and adoption within the pistachio industry. The extension project is built on the back of work done in previous years and will focus on connecting growers with the latest information on good practice and improving opportunities for growers to network amongst themselves and with specialist researchers and horticultural advisors, supported with the intent to improve industry productivity and quality. The main outputs of the project will be focused on producing factsheets on orchard management, organising PIT group meetings, maintaining and updating information on the website, producing bi-monthly newsletters and webinars.