Fruit Production - Temperate Climate 100 Hours Certificate Course

There are 8 lessons:

1 Introduction to Temperate Fruit Growing

• How do you Decide what to Grow?: Aspects of Crop Selection, Scope of Temperate Fruit Growing
• Understanding the Botany
• The Inflorescence
• Fruits: How Seed Forms
• Modification of Fruits: Succulent fruits, Composite fruits
• Key to Main Types of Fruits
• Buds
• Glossary of Terms: Morphological Changes in Plants

2 Establishing an Orchard

• Establishing an Orchard - What to Consider
• Considerations in Choosing a Site: Size, Location, Climate, Calculating Effective Rainfall, Biological - Pest and Diseases, Existing Vegetation, Water, Other

3 General Cultural Practices

• Understanding Soils: Physical characteristics of soil, Soil texture, Soil structure, Chemical characteristics of soils, Soil water content, Water, Air, Simple soil tests, Naming the soil
• Pests and Diseases
• Dealing with Fruit Tree Problems: Identifying the problem, What are the symptoms?
• Pests: Chewing insects, Sucking Insects, Phytoplasma
• Other Pest Problems: Mealy bug, Nematodes, Sawflies, Scale, Birds
• Diseases: Three Types (Fungal disease, Viruses, Bacteria), Disease Types (Leaf blight, Canker, Botryitis, Galls, Leaf Spot, Mildew, Rots, Blossom end rot, Collar rot, Sooty mould
• Plant Viruses: Virus Control, Wilt drooping foliage
• Integrated Pest Management: Insecticide use in IPM, What Does IPM Involve?
• Chemical Methods of Pest Control: Law, Chemical Labels, A General Chemical Control Routine Program for Spraying Deciduous Fruit trees
• Non-Chemical Methods: Environmental Affects on Plant Health, Common Environmental Problems
• Physical Plant Protection Methods
• Weed Control: Preventative Measures, Control Methods
• Plant Nutrition: What Nutrients do Plants Need? The Nutrient Elements, Major Elements, The Micronutrients
• Deficiences and Toxicities: Indicators of Deficiency and Toxicity
• Fertilizers: Types of Fertilisers, Choosing the Right Fertiliser, Applying Fertilisers, How Much to Apply? Natural Fertilisers
• Pruning Fruit Trees: Before pruning
• Flower or Vegetative Buds: Location of Fruit Buds
• Water, Drainage and Irrigation: Water is Important to Plants, Classes of Soil Moisture, Soils and Transpiration
• Measuring Water Available to Plants: Calculating Field Capacity, Calculating Permanent Wilting Point (PWP), Tensiometers
• Drainage: Testing Drainage Capability, Improving Drainage, Improving Infiltration
• When to Irrigate: Scheduling Irrigation, Important Elements, Period of Watering, Cyclic Watering, Pulse Watering, Water Extraction by Roots
• Irrigation Types: Flood Irrigation, Sprinkler Irrigation, Trickle Irrigation, Irrigation system efficiency

4 Tree Fruits

• Deciduous Fruit Trees: Winter Chilling Requirements, How to Grow Deciduous Fruit Trees, Choosing Your Varieties, Pollination Requirements
• Directory of Fruit Trees and their Requirements: Apple, Apricot, Cherry, Fig, Loquat, Nashi or Asian Pear, Olive, Peach and Nectarine, Pear, Pepino, Plum, Pomegranate, Quince, Tree Tomato or Tamarillo
• Using Compost

5 Vines, Nuts & Berries

• Nut Growing: Walnut, Chestnuts, Almond, Peanut, Macadamia, Pecan, American Hazelnut, Filbert, Pistachio, Other Edible Nuts
• Vines: Passionfruit, Chinese Gooseberry, Grape
• Berry Fruit: Quick Guide to Choosing Berries, Strawberries, Raspberries, Cape Gooseberry, Gooseberry, Mulberry, Blueberry
• Varieties for Cool- Temperate Climates: Elderberry, Currants, American Cranberry, Bramble Fruits, Loganberry, Other Brambles

6 Citrus

• Citrus: Citrus Species, Temperature Tolerance, Planting Citrus, Culture, Some General Rules for Citrus Growing, Problems
• Citrus Directory: Cumquat, Grapefruit, Lemon, Lime, Mandarin, Orange, Sour Orange, Tangelo

7 Cultural Management of a Fruit Plantation or Orchard

• The Maintenance Program
• The Production Plan: Example of a Simple Flow Chart for Cape Gooseberries

8 Marketing Your Produce

• Marketing your Produce
• Considering your Market: Direct sales to the public, Sales through major markets, Contract growing
• Market Research: Steps in Market Research, Gathering Information, What do you need to research?
• Standards: Cost efficiency, Profit, Sales price, Quality standards, Quantity standards
• Example of Harvesting Procedures for a Berry Crop: Harvesting Techniques, Post Harvest Treatment, Cooling, Cooling Methods