CCC researcher addresses International Macadamia Symposium

19 September 2023

The Clean Coastal Catchments Research project’s Jeremy Bright was a key speaker at the International Macadamia Symposium held in Durban, South Africa in September 2023.

The Symposium brought together producers, researchers, processors, and industry leaders from across the globe to share their knowledge, experience and innovations.

Jeremy Bright is a Macadamia Development Officer with the NSW Department of Primary Industries’ (DPI) and has more than 30 years’ experience working in a variety of horticultural industries across Australia. He has been involved in developing and conducting many extension projects and research trials, and has a deep understanding of the interaction between research results and effective extension to support the adoption of new technology and information on farm.

Jeremy’s presentation at the International Macadamia Symposium discussed the links between crop nutrient replacement values, Integrated Orchard Management (IOM), and the NSW Government’s Clean Coastal Catchments (CCC) Research project which is been investigating macadamia nutrition and how to avoid using excess fertiliser nutrients that can seep off farm and potentially cause pollution in coastal waters.

Analysis of macadamia nutrient replacement values in Australia by Jeremy and the CCC Research project team, has been replicated in South Africa by Stellenbosch University.

The South African research found rates of nitrogen, phosphorous and other elements removed from orchards during nut harvest that were very similar to the results from the CCC work on the NSW north coast.

Jeremy Bright joined Dr Aleysia Kleinert from Stellenbosch University at the International Macadamia Symposium session on precision agriculture, to discuss how updated crop removal data can help growers to optimise orchard nutrition, creating cost savings for farmers and benefits for the environment.

The results from Jeremy’s research have been summarised in the DPI’s recently published Macadamia Grower Guides:

Macadamia grower's guide: nutrition and soil health – Part 1: the foundations

Macadamia grower's guide: nutrition and soil health – Part 2: the next level

The Digital Macadamia Growers Guide project is funded by Hort Innovation, the grower-owned, not-for-profit research and development corporation for Australian horticulture.

The Clean Coastal Catchments Research project is funded through the NSW Government’s Marine Estate Management Strategy to improve water quality for our ocean, estuaries, and coastal wetlands.