Effect Of Agrizest Treatment On Fruit Quality And Yield

Apple Trial

 Trial Location:

Core Management, Waikato

Trial Objectives:

To show that Agrizest will:

  1. Increase yield,

  2. Increase fruit quality,

  3. Reduce damage caused by pest, disease or environmental stress.

This is a trial summary, a full trial report and data from additional trials is available on request. Please email us for more information.

 

Trial Design: Split block independent commercial trial.

2 blocks were selected for the trial and split in half: 3A/3B and 5/9.

Agrizest Treatment:

2 areas, Blocks 3A and 5, were treated with Agrizest.

Agrizest was applied as per label at 1 litre per hectare applied twice (3-5 days apart) at petal fall followed by the 3rd spray 7 days later and the 4th spray 7 days after that.

Control:

2 Control Blocks: Blocks 3B and 9 were not sprayed with Agrizest but were otherwise managed the same as the Agrizest treated blocks.

Assessments:

  • Blocks 3A and 3B underwent a mite infestation assessment.  50 leaves were selected at random from each block and a mite count was undertaken.  This was carried out on 09 January and again, pre-harvest, on 28 February. Note: Agrizest will not kill mites and has no direct effect on any pest but can reduce stress and damage caused by pests and aid repair and recovery.

  • A pre-harvest maturity test was carried out on all four blocks.

  • Harvest Data (Bins per hectare) was collected from blocks 5 and 9.

 

Independent Application, Monitoring, Harvest and Packing:

• Agrizest was applied by the grower or grower appointed contractors.

• Pre-harvest testing for harvest clearance was carried out by an independent, industry approved laboratory.

• The crop, pest and disease monitoring during the production season was carried out by independent contractors.

•  At harvest, the total crop from the test blocks was graded and packed by an independent pack-house.

• Yield and quality data were electronically assessed (generated by the grading and packing machines at the growers’ nominated pack-house).

 

Orchardist Observation:

“Trees sprayed in trial blocks generally had “healthier” looking leaves with deep green shiny leaf surface and reduced incidence of wind rub type damage or nutrient deficiency symptoms.”

Results:

Mite Damage

Control block apple trees, leaves yellow, poor condition
Healthy apple trees treated with Agrizest
Agrizest apple mite data

Mite damage incidence random sampling results (50 leaf) for Control Block 3B and Agrizest Treated Block 3A.



Pre-Harvest Maturity Test

Agrizest pre harvest maturity test apples


Harvest Data: Bins Per Hectare

Agrizest apples harvest data bins per hectare

CONCLUSION

Agrizest treatment:

1.    Reduced the incidence of mite infestation damage by over 80%. 3 miticide applications were necessary in the Control block while the Agrizest treated block did not need any miticide treatment. This is a significant cost saving for the orchardist. Note: Agrizest will not kill mites and has no direct effect on any pest but can reduce stress and damage caused by pests and aid repair and recovery.

2.    Improved fruit quality measures and fruit finish:

  • Colour

  • Firmness

  • Fruit weight

3.    Increased yield by 30%

Producing high yields of high quality fruit while reducing the cost of pest control will lead to a significant increase in Orchard Gate Returns.

Further trial data is available on request - please email us for more information.

More information available on request - Please Contact Us for more information.