News

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

Raw Macadamia
Australia
South Africa
Published Apr 11, 2022

Tridge summary

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.

Original content

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 stakeholders to contribute to the map." South Africa has more than 50,000 hectares of macadamia plantings that in 2021 produced 53,600 tonnes of nut in shell (NIS) - almost all of which is exported. More than 5000 hectares are added to the country's capacity each year. RELATED READING By comparison, the Australian Tree Crop ...
Source: Farmweekly
By clicking “Accept Cookies,” I agree to provide cookies for statistical and personalized preference purposes. To learn more about our cookies, please read our Privacy Policy.