Perth Strawberry offers Early Harvest for Labour Shortage Perth strawberry farmers are under pressure with large crops and coronavirus border closures leaving them short a third of their usual harvest workforce. Roughly to pick this farm there is a need of about 80 and currently, there are about half. Last year hundreds of thousands of strawberries were […]

An Increase in Supply of Dates for 2021-2022 Article by: Hari Yellina (Orchard Tech) According to the newest reports, there are definitely some large crops of Medjool dates. There is a huge supply from all vendors at the current moment. It is mostly conventional though, so organic dates continue to trend upward. Therefore, the producers […]

Why Should Fruits be a Part of your Regular Diet? Article by: Hari Yellina (Orchard Tech) Everyone has heard of the saying, “an apple a day keeps the doctor away.” This is true about fruits of all categories. Moreover, due to the increased awareness, everyone is starting to understand that fruits are not only delicious […]

Food and Agriculture in Australia: A Bright Future It is a known fact that food and agriculture that both agriculture and food are the basics when it comes to the sustenance of human life. Moreover, it was agriculture that led to the birth of human civilisation. Since the first crops were domesticated around 10,000 years […]

Farming and Agriculture: Frequently Asked Questions Article by: Hari Yellina (Orchard Tech) In the current world, agriculture has upgraded with technology to take on a new avatar altogether. Moreover, since farming and agriculture is one of the most important aspects of food supply, there are many questions that surround this subject. What is agriculture and […]

Is Agricultural Biodiversity an Important Part of Agriculture? Article by: Hari Yellina (Orchard Tech) What is Agricultural Biodiversity? Agriculture is completely dependent and based on biodiversity. It has facilitated the development of farming systems since the first development of agriculture some 10,000 years ago. This concept is the root and variation within all plant and […]

What is the Actual Importance of Agriculture? Agriculture is one of the most crucial sectors that are present in a nation. Hence, its importance is absolutely undeniable. The same can be claimed for Australia. Not only is it an important source of livelihood, but it was the primary source of the economy prior to the […]

QR Code: What is its Importance in Agriculture? Currently, farms will not be conducting their regular QR code checks for employees as NSW is seeking to mandate this Covid 19 practice across all workplaces. In fact, the NSW Farmers’ Association stated that a great deal of confusion, over QR codes, has arisen over the rules […]

Beneficial Insects & Biodiversity Key to Pest Management? During the last five years, the Macadamia Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program has actively worked on testing potent biological, cultural, and chemical combinations to eliminate harmful insects and pests. The most prominent way to do this is to introduce biodiversity. These farm trials were conducted in both […]

Increased Almond Demand Leads it to be a Bumper Crop The improvement in the outlook for global almond prices (a bumper crop) and demand has seen Australian grower Select Harvests upgrade its expectation for its 2021 crop. The organisation stated that 70 of its crop has been processed, with total almond volumes tipped to come […]

Is Agriculture a Permanent Solution to Climate Change? As Covid-19 continues to wreak havoc on health systems and the global economy it is easy to feel overwhelmed by the scale of the problem. Yet, in the collective response to the pandemic, there is also a sliver of hope. Moreover, as governments implement legislation to quell […]

Mouse Bait Efficacy Questioned: Australian Mouse Plague Researchers are now starting to trail the effectiveness of the mouse baits. It is in collaboration with both farmers and baits suppliers. In fact, approximately three research papers were prepared and are soon to be peer-reviewed. After being approved, these papers will be published in scientific journals in […]

Pistachios in Decline, Forecasted to Increase It is an ”off-year” for pistachios in Turkey, and consequently, a low production level for May 2021/22 is being forecast. However, Turkey has carried over significant stocks from the previous year, so there is no shortage of pistachios in the market. In addition, Turkey relies on imports of almonds […]

Mouse Plague Affecting Agriculture and other Industries A mouse plague in New South Wales has forced a jail to relocate thousands of inmates while it carries out cleaning and renovations. Due to this, more than 400 prisoners and 200 staff at the Wellington correctional centre will be moved to other facilities over the next two […]

Managing Almond Trees with a New Australian Model The new revolutionary method to manage almond trees, now a successful model especially in Italy and Spain, is being tested also on pistachio groves [as well as on other fruit species]. The agronomist Vito Vitally, back from a visit to some Spanish areas, explained the results. He […]

Winter Crop Beginning to Flourish Again According to the ABARES Australian Crop Report, this year’s winter crop is forecasted to do well above average. Thus, growers are ecstatic because of the strong productivity that is well above the historical average. According to Hari Yellina, of Orchard Tech, the national winter crop harvest is projected to […]

In news that is favourable for foreign agriculture workers, the Federal Government has introduced a new agriculture visa that aims to provide permanent residency to foreign workers entering the country. This agriculture visa aims to cover up the labour shortage that is being faced in the farming, fisheries and forestry sectors. The shortage of workers […]

Food Patterns and Habits in the Era of Covid 19 Article by: Hari Yellina (Orchard Tech) It cannot be denied that the pandemic has aggressively affected the food patterns and habits of consumers. Fear of not having enough has led to major disruptions in the food chain, as it has resulted in panic buying. The […]

Effects of the Pandemic Still Visible on Farmers As the pandemic starts to show its effects in Australia, farmers have expressed their great concern over productivity and yield. As state restrictions start to intensify, this may be in the form of border restrictions or lockdowns, farm owners are having trouble coping with the shortage of […]

Agricultural Visa Up and Running by Christmas In the past few years, the federal government did not focus on a policy commitment towards an agricultural visa for farmworkers. This was even after the National Party showed strong interest in the concoction of the visa. Instead, just days before the visa was announced on the sidelines […]