Survey of Citrus Fruit Growing

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 99, Issue 5, 16 November 1959, Page 439

Survey of Citrus Fruit Growing

By

W. A. FLETCHER,

Horticultural Advisory Officer (Citriculture), Department of Agriculture, Auckland

PRODUCTION of various citrus fruits, plantings, and the market outlook are discussed in this article, which gives results from an orchard survey conducted during the autumn and winter of 1958 by the Horticulture Division. The last similar survey was made in 1953 and some trends then forecast have not developed as expected. ,

CITRUS orchards with fewer than 50 trees were not included in the survey, though where citrus comprised only part of an orchard the minimum was reduced to 10 trees. The, 1958 survey recorded 145,750 citrus trees in commercial orchards, which are virtually all located, within the Auckland Province (at Kerikeri, round Auckland City, and 'at Tauranga, Te Puke, and Gisborne).-; .. The total is about/!,700 fewer than' the number recorded in 1953 and is somewhat lower than was : expected. The numbers of trees removed from orchards each year since 1953 appears to have been substantially underestimated, though new plantings were assessed fairly accurately. Planting Trends Though the change in total numbers of citrus trees over the past five years, has been slight, the pattern of plantings has changed markedly. Numbers of lemon trees have declined by 22 per cent and grapefruit trees by 13 per cent whereas sweet orange trees have increased by 30 per cent and mandarin trees by .146 per cent. Records of new plantings made and' trees removed in 1958 after the survey was completed indicate that the above trend is continuing. Of the 5,400 new trees recorded in 1958, 80 per cent were oranges and mandarins and only 12 per cent standard lemons. The

remainder were mainly tangelos. About 1,800 trees were removed during the' year. These were mainly lemon trees, with a few grapefruit and old orange trees. As for some years past ; heaviest losses were at Auckland. In the past five years the total number of citrus trees /in Auckland has declined 18 per cent. ’ Most trees were removed because they were old or had deteriorated through .neglect. Increases and decreases 'in numbers of ..citrus trees recorded during 1958 are shown in Table 1. These figures are additional to the survey records.

TABLE CITRUS TREES PLANTED AND REMOVED DURING 1958 Bay of Kerikeri Auckland Plenty Gisborne Total PLANTED . N.Z. grapefruit .. .50 .50 Wheeny grapefruit .. —• 10 : 10 . Standard lemons .. —■ ' 260 410 670 Meyer lemons .. ' ' . Sweet oranges .. 1,050 —;• 870 540 2,460 Mandarins .. .. 1,190 50 290 260 1,790 Tangelos ; .... 360 ' 30 390 Totals .. . . 2,600 50 1,480 1,240 5,370 REMOVED N.Z. grapefruit . .. —■ 150 30 60 - 240 Wheeny grapefruit .. 60 60 Standard lemons .. 60 460 250 30 800 Meyer lemons ... 220 30 130 40 . 420 Sweet oranges . . 150 150 300 Mandarins • .... . Tangelos .... .■ Totals .. .. 430 640 410 340 1,820

Production The lemon 'crop in 1958 was Tighter than expected, but grapefruit production was back to normal after the exceptionally light crop the previous season. Orange and mandarin production is now beginning to increase as many young trees are beginning to bear. ... ?i Estimated production of citrus fruits during the 1958-59 season is shown in Table 2.

TABLE ; 2—ESTIMATED PRODUCTION OF CITRUS FRUITS DURING .'/ 1958-59 SEASON ' ■. Bay of " Kerikeri Auckland Plenty Gisborne Total Standard cases (approximately 40 lb) Grapefruit: N.'Z 13,000 72,000 38,000 1,500 124,500 Wheeny . . 2,500 1,600 900 1,000 6,000 Total .. .. 15,500 73,600 38,900, 2,500 130,500 Lemons: - . Standard .. 2,000 7,400 49,000 11,700 70,100 Meyer . . . . 8,600 800 5,000 4,500 18,900 Total .. .. 10,600 8,200 54,000 16,200 89,000 Sweet oranges .. 6,000 1,200 3,000 4,600 14,800 Mandarins . . 1,000 1,100 900 150 3,150 Other citrus .. - 200 —•— 50 250 Total citrus . . 33,300 84,100 96,800 23,500 237,700

Outlook Grapefruit Of the 48,600 grapefruit trees recorded 87 per., cent were the New Zealand grapefruit variety (including Morrison’s and Lippiatt’s strains) and 13 per cent were Wheeny grapefruit.

Unsatisfactory prices for grapefruit over recent years have led to some neglect of many trees, which has lowered the production potential for these fruits. The proportion of New Zealand grapefruit trees in A grade condition (vigorous, healthy trees for the district) fell from 79 per cent recorded in 1953 to 65 per cent in 1958 and. of Wheeny grapefruit from 89 to 66 per cent. This lowering of production potential has been aggravated by the . overall decrease in numbers of grapefruit trees, with few new plantings over the past five years. As a

result the steep rises in production predicted after . the 1953 survey are now not likely to occur and yields are expected to remain static or increase slightly over the next few years. Present production of grapefruit appears to be adequate to satisfy demand during the season. Lemons Of the 41,200 lemon trees recorded, 43 per cent were Eureka types (including Villa Franca and Genoa varieties), 27 per cent were Lisbon, and 30 per cent were Meyer.. Despite the decrease in numbers of lemon trees since 1953, production is likely to increase in the next five years to about 120,000 cases as a result of increasing yields from the large proportion of trees under 10 years old growing in the Bay of Plenty and at Gisborne. More than half of the 25,900 standard lemon . (Eureka and Lisbon types) trees recorded are in the Bay of Plenty. Production of these fruits at Tauranga (9,400 trees) could increase by 15 per cent to about 46,000 cases and at Te Puke (5,200 trees) by 30 per cent to about 26,000 cases. At Gisborne production of standard lemons could increase by 40 per cent to about 16,000 cases. On the other hand, production at Kerikeri is likely to decline to about 1,500 cases and at Auckland to about 5,000 cases as tree numbers and condition decline. One third of the 12,400 Meyer lemon trees are at Kerikeri and an equal number are at Tauranga. Many of the remaining trees are at Gisborne. Production of these fruits at Kerikeri and Auckland is likely to remain more or less static at about 9.000 cases and 1,000 cases respectively, but in the Bay of Plenty, where there is a higher proportion of young trees, production could increase by 7 or 8 per cent to about 9,000 cases. Similarly at Gisborne production could increase by 17 per cent to about 6,000 cases. With better maintenance in many orchards, potential production of all lemons could undoubtedly be increased, but dissatisfaction with returns for Meyer lemons particularly has led many growers to neglect their trees and the proportion of A grade trees has fallen from 83 per cent in 1953 to 63 per cent in 1958. The overall condition of standard lemon trees has not changed over the past five years, but though young blocks are being well maintained, many older orchards are being neglected and the proportion of A grade trees is only 59 per cent.

Since 1953 the rate of planting new lemon trees appears to have been somewhat better than was estimated and has averaged about 1,000 trees per year. If this rate of planting continues, annual production should be maintained at the level of about 120,000 cases to be expected within the next five years. However, about 25,000 cases

of this potential production are likely to be Meyer lemons and the seasonal bearing habit of this variety will continue to cause marketing difficulties, with summer shortages and winter excesses. All new lemon plantings should therefore be standard varieties to ensure even supply throughout the year. Sweet Oranges Sweet orange trees were recorded under three headings: Navel oranges, including Washington Navel and all its derivatives such as Carter Navel, Leng Navel, and Robertson Navel. ' Valencia ' (and Lue Gim Gong). Other oranges, including Best’s Seedless, Omana Jaffa, Harwood Late, and several others. The total number of orange trees recorded was 40,600. Of these 45 per cent were up to five years old and 69 per cent were up to 10 years old, so that production could increase by more than 200 per cent as trees mature. New Zealand’s climate is marginal for growing oranges and though it remains to be demonstrated that they can be produced economically on a large scale in this country, at a conservative estimate annual production should increase to at least 30,000 bushels within a few years. Good returns for these fruits have encouraged heavy plantings over recent years and the trend is expected to continue. Greatest development has been at Kerikeri, where more than 60 per cent of all orange trees are now established, but considerable plantings have also been made in the other districts, especially Gisborne. The most popular varieties for planting are navel oranges, which so far have proved to be the most promising. More than 70 per cent of orange trees in commercial orchards are navel varieties. Older Valencia plantings at Kerikeri have proved unsatisfactory and these trees are being removed and replaced. A trend to plant several other promising varieties which have originated in New Zealand, such as Best’s Seedless and Harwood Late, is also developing. Mandarins More than 95 per cent of the 13,200 mandarin trees recorded are up to 10 years old, so that production should rise steeply to a level of at least 10,000 bushels in a few years. ■ Well over half of the trees are at Kerikeri and most of the remainder

in the Bay of Plenty and at Auckland. As with oranges, high returns for these fruits have encouraged plantings in recent years. The total yield of. oranges and mandarins which can be expected represents no more than about 6 per cent of New Zealand’s requirements for these fruits and should be readily

absorbed provided the quality of the fruit is sufficiently good.

Tangelos The number of tangelo trees recorded (about 1,040) is still small but is increasing. Practically all these trees are at Kerikeri and more than 90 per cent of them are up to 10 years old, so that production is likely to increase considerably. Present production is mainly of the Tiniura tangelo, but many of the recent plantings have been of the Seminole variety. Reference J. H. Watt: “Official Survey of the' Fruitgrowing Industry of New Zealand 1953”, NewZealand Fruitgrowers Federation. New Zealand Scientist’s Pioneer Work in Spectrography

Recognition of his pioneer work in absorption spectrography in chemical analyses was recently accorded an officer of the Department of Agriculture’s Rukuhia Soil Research Station. He is Mr J. E. Allan, Senior Principal Scientific Officer, who was invited to deliver a paper to the Australian Spectroscopy Conference in Melbourne and be the guest of the Australian Government for two weeks.

Spectrographic analytical methods hold great promise as an aid to solving problems of trace element nutrition of plants and animals. A special feature is that several elements may be determined simultaneously in a relatively small sample.

Besides developing methods of spark and flame emission spectrography. Mr Allan has pioneered the application of absorption spectrography to analyses. The invitation to lecture to the conference is considered a tribute to his work on absorption spectrography and its importance in the field of modern chemical analysis.