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Harvesting tomorrow: boosting agricultural sustainability and productivity

  • Context: Regional

Greater Sydney Local Land Services took 8 of its local avocado growers to the 2026 Central New South Wales Avocado Grower Regional Forum hosted by Avocados Australia Ltd on 19 May 2026.

Around 41% of grower businesses in the Central New South Wales region and 19 other industry stakeholders attended the forum at Port Macquarie to explore the technical theme of plant resilience.

Some of the key takeaways from growers included: 

  • the use of gypsum pre-flowering to optimise calcium uptake 
  • exploring the introduction of beneficial biological insects to assist with fruit spotting bug management.
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Supported by the Australian Government through funding from the Natural Heritage Trust under the Climate-Smart Agriculture Program and delivered by Greater Sydney Local Land Services, a member of the Commonwealth Regional Delivery Partners panel.

‘I will look at rotating insecticide sprays, also I will look into rotating soil fungicides.’
– Quote from growers who attended the event.

The forum delivered valuable insights to growers from a range of experts in the industry on topics such as: 

  • pest and disease management, including resistance management
  • monitoring emerging issues, such as citrus blossom bug and panicle and branch dieback
  • tracking established pests, such as thrips, fruit spotting bug and anthracnose
  • crop pollination and alternative pollinators
  • improving avocado fruit robustness
  • avocado benchmarking.

The event included a practical component through a farm walk on the thriving KMH Avocados property during which the group learned how to: 

  • install a soil solution probe to help monitor soil water for available calcium and/or nitrogen levels
  • administer Phos acid injections to resolve fungal diseases, such as sooty mould, on fruit.
‘Calcium, Calcium, Calcium.’
– Quote from growers who attended the event.

Growers have benefitted from attending this event through peer networking, knowledge sharing, and learning about practices to trial and adopt for:

  • healthier and greater fruit production
  • improved farm productivity and profitability
  • enhanced soil health and water retention
  • protecting biodiversity and reducing environmental harm
  • increasing resilience to changing climate conditions
‘I want to further investigate fly pollination in my orchard.’
– Quote from growers who attended the event.

 

Participation in this activity for Greater Sydney avocado growers was facilitated under the Harvesting Tomorrow: Boosting Agricultural Sustainability and Productivity in Greater Sydney project, which is supported by the Australian Government through funding from the Natural Heritage Trust under the Climate-Smart Agriculture Program and delivered by Greater Sydney Local Land Services, a member of the Commonwealth Regional Delivery Partners panel.

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