This project is a collaborative piece of work funded through the Australian Government’s Rural R&D for Profit initiative. This investment will improve the quality and yield of fruit and vegetable seeds produced in protected cropping environments by developing advanced technologies for pollination in protected cropping horticulture sector.

Australian horticultural industries are increasingly reliant on protected cropping to reduce yield variability in association with the impacts of extreme weather events, pests and diseases and the efficiency of inputs such as water, fertilisers, labour, land and energy. In Australia, a number of high-value industries are grown under protected cropping systems including raspberries, blueberries, apples and vegetables. These high-value industries are significantly expanding in production across Australia at an average rate of four to six per cent growth each year. Blueberry production as an example has increased from 5,500 tonnes to 17,000 tonnes in the last five years representing more than 80 per cent of Australia’s total berry production.

Despite the benefits of protected cropping, there is increasing evidence to suggest that the altered environmental conditions caused by protective environments can negatively impact crop plant physiology and reproduction, insect pollinators and the pollination services they provide. This means that many growers are experiencing inadequate pollination resulting in lower yields and fruit quality than could otherwise be achieved under these growing conditions. The causes of these yield deficits have been attributed to lower plant and pollinator performance under enclosed conditions.

The overarching aims of the program are to:

• Increase insect pollinator efficacy and pollination by improving the performance of honey bees under covers.

• Manipulate plant floral and reproductive traits to improve fruit production and quality.

• Optimise the placement of pollen donor plants (pollinisers) to enable growers to manipulate crop/orchard configuration to sustain high fruit yield and quality.

• Improve and advance innovative methods of mechanical pollination to achieve pollination artificially, in the absence of insects.