ROBINVALE will host its first Almond Board of Australia Research and Development Forum on Monday and Tuesday.
With a strong emphasis on bees, pollination and water, the biennial forum will be staged at Robinvale Community Centre.
ABA chief executive Tim Jackson said the forum had arrived in Robinvale in recognition of the contribution this community makes to annual almond production.
Mr Jackson said a staggering 50 per cent of the annual crop was now produced in the district and it was a logical follow-on from the annual Mallee Almond Blossom Festival at the same site on Saturday.
He said given the size of the industry today, its growth projections in the next decade and its increasing importance to the Australian food bowl and communities, the forum attracted “a stellar line-up” of industry authorities, representatives of all the major companies and individual producers.
“The forum is held on alternate years to our conference and day one will be a hands-on day of tours to local orchards and processing facilities to explore innovative approaches to a range of activities including drying, pollination and plant nutrition,” Mr Jackson said.
“More than $500 million has been, or is being, invested regionally in processing infrastructure to cater for the growth in the industryand this tour will provide an insight of our industry’s very exciting future.
“Day two of the forum will be a range of expert speakers presenting at the Robinvale Community Centre on a multitude of issues facing the industry.
“As almonds are still a relatively new industry, we appreciate that a wider community knowledge around almond production is limited, so the forum is a wonderful way of improving your understanding of almond production.”
Mr Jackson said the almond industry was on track to be worth as much as $2 billion dollars in the next five years and was already the most valuable horticultural export crop in Australia.
He said an independent study in 2020 found the Australian almond industry was worth $1.6 billion to its local economies and generated almost 10,000 jobs.
“Given our growth trajectory, this figure will continue to increase in the years ahead,” Mr Jackson said.
“On the domestic front, Australians have one of the highest consumption rates of almonds per capita in the world.
“The health and wellbeing benefits of a regular intake of almonds, and their versatility, has driven demand, especially among those seeking an alternative protein source and a plant-based ingredient.”
Mr Jackson said plantings – especially through Sunraysia – had soared by a factor of 20 in barely 20 years, up from a meagre 3500ha to 62,500ha, and counting.
Australia was now the world’s second largest producer by almonds grown and harvested, although overshadowed by California, responsible for 80 per cent of global production.
Mr Jackson described his industry as “demand creative”, as it has to compete with the massive marketing budget of US almonds and grow market awareness of the quality Australian product.
“One of the biggest drivers here has been a growing awareness for many producers that almonds are a better, more reliable crop,” he said.
“Across the southern Murray-Darling Basin almonds are seen as a crop which will consistently deliver stronger results through more efficient use of water, and as a result a lot of people started to make the switch from less profitable crops.
“We have seen everyone from dryland farmers to cotton and rice growers or mixed farmers, either make a complete swap or add almonds into their mix.”
