Feedback from those attending field walks focusing on understory planting reflected an increase in knowledge and understanding of the benefits understory plantings provides to growers.
Hosted by Summerfruit NZ, the field walks held in Central Otago and Hawke’s Bay in November were designed to extend knowledge from the Summerfruit NZ-A Lighter Touch understory planting project, which aims to enhance orchard biodiversity to support pest control and improve soil health.
About 30 people attended the two events, which involved three practical components, starting with a discussion around the understory plant species selection, and the benefits each plant provides. A visual soil assessment was demonstrated, and the final session focused on sampling and identifying beneficial insects, and the role they play in helping with pest management in the orchard.
Summerfruit NZ research manager Sally Anderson (on right) and attendees identifying insects at the field walk in Hawke’s Bay.
Staff from the Bioeconomy Science Institute (BSI) demonstrated use of sweep netting and other monitoring tools such as sticky traps.
Attendees self-evaluated their increase in knowledge and understanding across the two-hour field walk as growing by a third, and the majority indicated strong interest in adopting some of the practices demonstrated.
A demonstration of a visual soil assessment in Cromwell.
The field walks were open to all sectors, with the event in Central Otago being hosted on a cherry orchard, and the Hawke’s Bay session at a vineyard. Attendees included growers, advisors, researchers, lecturers and tertiary students training in viticulture.
The understory planting in the Central Otago cherry orchard.
Summerfruit NZ research manager Sally Anderson says many attendees were surprised at how easy it was to undertake a visual soil assessment, and the knowledge that could be gained from it.
“The large number of insects collected by sweep netting through the understory was also something that people were commenting on – they were quite amazed at how much insect life was present.”
ALT transitional technical lead Bruno Gatimel uses a sweep net.
Key lessons attendees indicated they were taking away from the field walks included:
- “encouraging greater confidence” in trialling IPM strips,
- that monitoring can be low cost and effective,
- a desire to “keep investigating the potential of understory species” and
- “how to think about the multiple factors to improve the soil and [enhance] beneficial insects”.
BSI’s Kate Colhoun (centre) studies a sticky trap.
Find out more about this project and the resources produced from it here.
Additional resources can be found on ALT’s resources section (select Biodiversity from the drop down list).
