Customer story

Early detection of Phytophthora in macadamia orchards

For a disease to become established, the three points of the disease triangle need to be present: a susceptible plant, a virulent pathogen present and an environment that is favorable for an infection. This was the case for a macadamia grower, whose trees became a host to the Phytophthora pathogen.

Nuts

The problem

The grower regularly uses his Tree Insights to monitor low-lying areas vulnerable to Phytophthora, where drainage is poor and water tends to accumulate.

He created a route on the Aeroview platform to investigate an area where he suspected the disease to be prevalent and followed it on the ground using the Aeroview InField mobile app.

The grower found paled yellow leaves, branch dieback, dwarfed trees and deposits of fresh sand, which indicated a constant movement of water channels through the area when it rains.

Pests often target trees that are under stress, and the trees infected with Phytophthora also had macadamia nut borer damage.

Trees that are weakened by pests and diseases can be difficult to manage as the infection and infestations tend to outpace the trees’ ability to cope. 

Per-tree health insights for the orchard, where red, orange and green marks  indicate underperforming trees and green indicates optimal performance. 

The solution

With the affected trees detected, diagnosed and quantified, the grower went on to make data-driven decisions that would improve the health of the orchard and save trees that would otherwise have been lost. 

KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Crop Type

Nuts, Macadamias

Location

KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Tool

Tree Insights: Health Targeted investigations with the Aeroview InField app

Value

Early-stage intervention where a disease was taking hold

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