A Pilot Orchard with its significant infrastructure has been developed on a 31 acre block on the Hawker Road in Quorn, the main thoroughfare into the Flinders Ranges. It includes a 7 million litre turkey-nest dam, 35kms of irrigation system, a rabbit and roo proof fence and storage and workshop facilities. The project will cost over $0.75M to complete. It is already employing regular casual workers in Quorn.

The company is planting a 4,000 tree grafted orchard in Quorn and 2,000 tree grafted and selected seedling orchard in Keith.

Planting in both orchards has commenced, with a total of 1,500 trees to be planted out by April this year comprising grafted Powell’s Red Supreme trees and seedling pollinators. There is an experimental orchard of specially selected and bred seedling trees from the Powell’s gene pool and the PBR process required plantings. Over 4,000 hosts have also been planted.

All grafted trees have been planted out 8-9 months after grafting, having been hosted onto Myoporum parvifolium in 6 to 7 inch pots. They are planted out within a metre of a secondary Saltbush host. All trees are planted within 5m of an established thornless Acacia victoriae woody tertiary host tree and within 9-10 m of a Quandong seedling pollinator.

When extreme prolonged heat deleteriously affects fruit set in the northern region there has not been any similar effect in the Upper South East region and as the Powell’s Red Supreme fruits do not split in rain or heavy dews the Keith orchard should guarantee Quorn Quandongs a hedge against lowered production in the northern regions.

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