Biodiverse planting in perennial crops
The aim of this project was to develop an understanding of how overall biodiversity and specific natural enemies could be enhanced within orchard and vineyard environments to better manage insect pests and to reduce reliance on agrichemicals. Two citrus orchards were used as the model crop production system.
At the completion of this two-year project the fruit sector product groups participating in A Lighter Touch have a ‘toolkit’ of approaches that can be applied to all perennial orchard operations. Find out more about what was learned from this project in the resources below. The final project report summary is available here.
Grower resources
A series of grower resources have been produced from this project. These include “how to” guides, video tutorials and presentations from experts explaining the science behind the project. Links to all of these resources are provided here.
- The project explained (video)
- What the project means for Citrus growers (video)
- A crop monitoring tutorial (video)
- Demonstration of seeding in the orchard (video)
- Field day presentations detailing different aspects of the project (presentation)
- Establishing floral resources for improved biological control (guide)
- Insect monitoring of perennial crops (guide)
- Management and evaluation of beneficial planting (guide)
- Field scouting sheet (resource)
- Checklist for beneficial planting (resource)
- Enhancing agroecosystems (webinar series)
