Cherry Testbed - Orange

Overview

The Cherry Testbed at the Orange Agricultural Institute is being established in 2022. The Testbed will be a showcase of best practice management and technology for cherry production and processing. It will produce a commercial harvest but also be “research ready” for future research opportunities with industry. ​

The Testbed site aims are to:

• Demonstrate to producers the performance and value of cherry varietals suitable for the region and nationally;
• Connect producers and demonstrate best practice management;
• Increase community and stakeholder engagement; and
• Provide education and training.

The key best practice features of the Testbed site will include:

• Mix of current commercial varietals and future demand varietals​
• Comparative trellising arrays, irrigation systems and canopy systems​
• Technology systems for water, soils and climate and tree production
• Diagnostics for tree health, disease and pest management​
• Data collation and analysis for performance monitoring ​
• Ag tech trial opportunities for auto harvesting, robotics and crop assessment technologies
• Demonstration of zero waste and low carbon approaches to production and packaging
• Packing sheds for harvesting, packaging and on farm phytosanitary prototypes and technologies

These features will be developed in consultation with a Producer Advisory Panel and peak bodies to ensure relevance to NSW and Australian production environment.