Avocado Australia
Avocado Australia

4th Australian and New Zealand Avocado Growers Conference

FINAL PROGRAM

 

Tuesday 21 July, 2009

15:00

Registration and speakers support centre opens

17:30 - 19:30

Welcome Reception
Venue: Industry Exhibition, Halls C & D, Cairns Convention Centre

18:00

Registration and speakers support centre closes
 

Wednesday 22 July, 2009

07:30

Registration and speakers support centre opens

08:00

Industry Exhibition opens

08:15 - 09:45

Venue: Hall A
Chairs: Mr Henry Kwaczynski and Mr John Schnackenberg

Welcome: Mr Henry Kwaczynski, Chair of Avocados Australia and Mr John Schnackenberg, Chair of New Zealand Avocado Growers Association

Official Conference Opening: The Hon. Tony Burke MP, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry

Opening plenary session
Keynote 1: Ms Valli Little, Food Editor, Delicious magazine
Keynote 2: A healthy diet equals a healthy you Mrs Zoe Bingley-Pullin, Nutritionist
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09:45 - 10:30

Morning Tea
Venue: Industry Exhibition, Halls C & D, Cairns Convention Centre

10:30 - 11:45

Venue: Hall A
Chair: Mr Alan Thorn

Keynote 3: Status, impact and management of the major diseases of avocado Prof Randy Ploetz, University of Florida
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Keynote 4: Alternate bearing in avocado – an overview Prof Nigel Wolstenholme
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Signing of 2009 Memorandum of Understanding between the New Zealand Avocado Growers’ Association and Avocados Australia

11:45 - 13:10

Lunch
Venue: Industry Exhibition, Halls C & D, Cairns Convention Centre

13:10 - 14:20

Handling Handling Growing
Venue: Hall A
Chair: Mr Derek Donkin
Breakout 1: State of the industry

Mr Alan Thorn:
New Zealand avocado industry, state of the industry
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Mr Antony Allen:
Australian avocado industry, state of the industry
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Venue: Meeting Room 1
Chairs: Mr Ian Broadhurst and Mr Chris Nelson
Breakout 2: Harvesting

Dr Claire Flemmer:
Robotics in horticulture
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Mr Alec McCarthy:
Harvesting Hass avocados during high temperatures
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Mr Keith Batten:
Elevating picking platform standards – a time of change
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Venue: Meeting Room 2
Workshop Coordinators: Dr Jonathan Dixon and Mr Simon Newett
Breakout 3: Workshop on avocado growth cycle
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Dr Grant Thorp:
Irregular bearing in ‘Hass’ avocado – possible role of carbohydrates and boron
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This workshop is an interactive overview of the total avocado growth cycle, from the very basics to the advanced.

14:20 - 15:00

Afternoon Tea
Venue: Industry Exhibition, Halls C & D, Cairns Convention Centre

15:00 - 17:00

Growing Handling Consuming
Venue: Hall A
Chairs: Prof Nigel Wolstenholme and Mr Roger Barber
Breakout 4: Alternate bearing
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Prof Nigel Wolstenholme:
Alternate bearing in avocado: nutrition
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Dr Mark Goodwin & Lisa Evans:
Avocado fruit set in New Zealand
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Mr Fabian Gallo:
Avocado irrigation monitoring techniques
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Dr Mike Clearwater:
Transpiration during avocado flowering: How much water do the flowers use?
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Dr John Leonardi:
Can canopy management strategies overcome alternate bearing?
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Dr Tony Whiley:
Australian rootstock program update 09
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Dr Danielle Le Lagadec:
The quest to find superior avocado rootstocks
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Venue: Meeting Room 1
Chairs: Mr Tony Ponder and Mr Lachlan Donovan
Breakout 5: Exports

Dr Peter Hofman:
Exporting Australian avocado fruit: technical challenges, options and research
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Mr Derek Donkin:
Avocado exports – the South African story
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Mr Tom French:
Marketing avocados in Thailand
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Jem Burdon:
New Zealand's export success
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Mr Louis Grey:
Exporting from Australia
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Venue: Meeting Room 2
Chairs: Mr Jack Crozier and Mr Tom Silver
Breakout 6: Fruit quality

Dr Roger Harker:
What avocado consumers want
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Mrs Joanna Embry:
Avocado retail quality surveys
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Mr Terry Campbell and Ms Jodie Campbell:
Improving the avocado supply chains
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Dr Henry Pak:
Beyond AvoGreen
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Dr Elizabeth Dann and Dr Lindy Coates:
Impacts of fruit disease management on quality
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17:15 - 18:00

Australian Avocado Growers Annual Levy Payers Meeting 2009
Venue: Hall A, Cairns Convention Centre

16:00

Registration and speakers support centre closes
Industry Exhibition closes
 

Thursday 23 July, 2009

08:00

Registration and speakers support centre opens
Industry Exhibition opens

08:30 - 10:00

Venue: Hall A
Chair: Antony Allen

Keynote 5: Avocados in Woolworths Mr Darren Weir, Senior Business Manager, Fresh Produce, Woolworths
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Keynote 6: Multi country avocado promotion programs in the U.S. market Mr Jose Luis Obregon, Managing Director, Hass Avocado Board
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Keynote 7: Australian industry promotion program overview Mr Antony Allen, CEO, Avocados Australia
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Keynote 8: New Zealand industry promotion program overview Mr Alan Thorn, CEO, New Zealand Avocado Industry Council

10:00 - 10:45

Morning Tea
Venue: Industry Exhibition, Halls C & D, Cairns Convention Centre

10:45 - 12:15

Growing Handling Growing
Venue: Hall A
Chairs: Prof Randy Ploetz and Mike Eagles
Breakout 7: Plant health - A

Dr Elizabeth Dann and Dr Ken Pegg:
Managing Phytophthora cinnamomi
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Mr Luke Smith:
Phellinus noxius: brown root rot in avocado
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Prof Randy Ploetz:
Laurel wilt: A global threat to avocado production
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Mr Colin Partridge:
Improved timing of phosphonate injections for Pc control in New Zealand
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Venue: Meeting Room 1
Workshop Coordinators: Dr Jonathan Dixon and Mr Simon Newett
Breakout 8: Workshop on avocado growth cycle
PDF Download  | Preview

Dr Grant Thorp:
Irregular bearing in ‘Hass’ avocado – possible role of carbohydrates and boron
PDF Download  | Preview

This workshop is an interactive overview of the total avocado growth cycle, from the very basics to the advanced.

Venue: Meeting Room 2
Chairs: Mr Jim Kochi
Breakout 9: New avocado varieties and rootstocks forum

An open forum with owners of new avocado varieties and rootstocks from across the world including:
Dr André Ernst
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Mr Denis Roe
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Dr Tony Whiley
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Dr Zelda van Rooyen and other variety owners and managers.

12:15 - 13:30

Lunch
Venue: Industry Exhibition, Halls C & D, Cairns Convention Centre

13:30 - 15:30

Consuming Growing Consuming
Venue: Hall A
Chairs: Dr Henry Pak
Breakout 10: Fruit quality

Dr Roger Harker:
What avocado consumers want
PDF Download  | Preview

Mrs Joanna Embry:
Avocado retail quality surveys
PDF Download  | Preview

Mr Terry Campbell and Ms Jodie Campbell:
Improving the avocado supply chains
PDF Download  | Preview

Dr Henry Pak:
Beyond AvoGreen
PDF Download  | Preview

Dr Elizabeth Dann and Dr Lindy Coates:
Impacts of fruit disease management on quality
PDF Download  | Preview

Venue: Meeting Room 1
Chair: Prof Nigel Wolstenholme and Dr Jonathan Dixon
Breakout 11: Alternate bearing
PDF Download  | Preview

Prof Nigel Wolstenholme:
Alternate bearing in avocado: nutrition
PDF Download  | Preview

Dr Mark Goodwin:
Avocado fruit set in New Zealand
PDF Download  | Preview

Mr Fabian Gallo:
Avocado irrigation monitoring techniques
PDF Download  | Preview

Dr Mike Clearwater:
Transpiration during avocado flowering: How much water do the flowers use?
PDF Download  | Preview

Dr John Leonardi:
Can canopy management strategies overcome alternate bearing?
PDF Download  | Preview

Dr Tony Whiley:
Australian rootstock program update 09
PDF Download  | Preview

Dr Danielle Le Lagadec:
The quest to find superior avocado rootstocks
PDF Download  | Preview

Venue: Meeting Room 2
Workshop Coordinators: Ms Gunjan Tandan and Mr Antony Allen
Breakout 12: Marketing

Mr Rob Mason:
Australian avocado consumer research 2009
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Mr Antony Allen:
Retail price surveys: what do avocados cost?
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Mr David Chenu:
Avocado and food service
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Interactive workshop with the Australian promotion agencies including:

Gallery De Pasquale
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IKON, Liquid Interactive and IMPACT Communications.

15:30 - 16:15

Afternoon Tea
Venue: Industry Exhibition, Halls C & D, Cairns Convention Centre

16:15 - 17:45

Consuming Growing Growing
Venue: Hall A
Chairs: Mrs Joanna Embry and Mr Andrew Darling
Breakout 13: Education

Dr Dimitrios Zabaras:
Lipophilic bioactives in avocados
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Mrs Zoe Bingley-Pullin:
The avocado nutritionist
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Mr Joseph Ebbage:
AVO 7025 Benchmarking the usage and attitudes of health professionals towards eating avocados
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Dr Steve Culpan:
Health professional perspective
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Venue: Meeting Room 1
Chairs: Mrs Jennie Franceschi and Mr David French
Breakout 14: Packing

Mr Brett Wedding:
NIRS technology for determining maturity in avocados
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Dr Rory Flemmer:
New advances in packing
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Ms Sharon Chapman:
Computer systems to deliver product and profits
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Venue: Meeting Room 2
Chair: Prof Randy Ploetz and Mr John Schnackenberg
Breakout 15: Plant health - B

Mr Greg Fraser:
Preparing for biosecurity issues
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Dr Henry Drew:
Integrated pest management in avocados
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Mrs Robyn Gaskin:
Optimising concentrate spray applications in avocados
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Dr Andrew Geering:
Better control of avocado sunblotch disease through improved diagnostic technologies
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Mr Stewart Frankling:
Crop yield loss you can’t see
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17:45

Registration and speakers support centre closes

18:00

Industry Exhibition closes

19:30 - 23:30

Conference Dinner
Venue: Industry Exhibition, Halls A & B, Cairns Convention Centre
 

Friday 24 July, 2009

07:00 - 18:00

Avocado Conference Field Day on the Atherton Tablelands: Various farm, packing and research site visits throughout the day