South Africa to use Applied Agricultural Remote Sensing Centre technology to map macadamia trees

SOUTH African macadamia growers have gotten wind of Australian tree mapping technology, and they want in. The University of New England (UNE)'s Applied Agricultural Remote Sensing Centre (AARSC) is set to service the world's largest macadamia producer to help it better understand the industry's production capacity. As South African production continues to rapidly expand, industry body Macadamias South Africa (SAMAC) has turned to AARSC to help map the distribution of the industry and quantify its area. AARSC director professor Andrew Robson said over the past seven years of collaboration with the Australian macadamia industry, the organisation has established the methodologies to deliver the national mapping of orchards and improved yield forecasting, both key outputs requested by SAMAC. "Our challenge will be to map the new plantings, although they cannot be mapped with satellite imagery alone," professor Robson said. "Using location-based tools we can engage industry ...