Final report project Tropical tree fruit research and development in the Philippines and northern Australia to increase productivity, resilience and profitability project number HORT/2012/095 date published March 2019 prepared by Yan Diczbalis co-authors/ Lucia M Borines, Roberta D. Lauzon, Lorina A. Galvez, contributors/ Francisco T. Dayap, Dario T. Lina, Elsie E. Salamat, Alicia Bulawan, collaborators Brenda Almeroda, Eric Kent Mapili, Virgilio Loquias, Colin Leung, Mark Hoult and Natalie Dillon approved by final report number FR2019-111 ISBN 978-1-925747-98-0 published by ACIAR GPO Box 1571 Canberra ACT 2601 Australia This publication is published by ACIAR ABN 34 864 955 427. Care is taken to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this publication. However ACIAR cannot accept responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of the information or opinions contained in the publication. 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Final report: Tropical tree fruit research and development in the Philippines and northern Australia to increase productivity, resilience and profitability Contents 1 Acknowledgments 4 2 Executive summary 5 3 Background 7 4 Objectives 9 5 Methodology 10 6 Achievements against activities and outputs/milestones 26 7 Key results and discussion 38 8 Impacts 68 8.1 Scientific impacts – now and in 5 years 68 8.2 Capacity impacts – now and in 5 years 68 8.3 Community impacts – now and in 5 years 69 8.3.1 Economic impacts 69 8.3.2 Social impacts 69 8.3.3 Environmental impacts 70 8.4 Communication and dissemination activities 70 9 Conclusions and recommendations 72 9.1 Conclusions 72 9.2 Recommendations 72 10 References 74 10.1 References cited in report 74 10.2 List of publications produced by project 75 11 Appendixes 76 Appendix 1. Objective 1b 76 Appendix 2. Objective 1d 77 Appendix 3. Objective 1e 90 Appendix 4. Objective 2a 99 Interspecies grafting trials DA-Abuyog 99 Interspecies grafting trials BPI Davao 108 Appendix 5. Objective 2b 111 Appendix 6. Objective 2c 114 Page ii Final report: Tropical tree fruit research and development in the Philippines and northern Australia to increase productivity, resilience and profitability Appendix 7. Objective 2d 125 Durian demonstration trial site East Feluga – Neil Wiltshire 126 Appendix 8. Objective 3a 133 Appendix 9. Objective 3b 135 Optimization of firming agent, anti-microbial agent and acidulant for the production of fresh cut jackfruit 135 Effect of deseeding, storage temperature and storage condition on the quality of minimally processed jackfruit pulps 135 Product development 135 Appendix 10. Preliminary research 137 Component one: Literature review (2013) 137 Component one: International product review (2017) 139 Component two: Preliminary Australian jackfruit variety development (2015-2016) 145 Component two: Vacuum packaging evaluation (2015-2016) 146 Component two: Sensory profiling of Australian jackfruit varieties (2016) 149 Appendix 11. Processing trials (2017) 154 Component three: Packaging study introduction 154 Component three: Packaging study methodology 154 Component three: Packaging study results 160 Component three: Packaging study methodology follow up (2018) 168 Attachments 174 Page iii Final report: Tropical tree fruit research and development in the Philippines and northern Australia to increase productivity, resilience and profitability 1 Acknowledgments The project team wish to thank jackfruit and fruit growers in the Philippines and Australia who generously contributed their time, support and knowledge to the project. We also acknowledge the support of our respective institutions and ACIAR for project support and funding. Page 4 Final report: Tropical tree fruit research and development in the Philippines and northern Australia to increase productivity, resilience and profitability 2 Executive summary The Philippines contains an extensive collection of tropical fruits, both indigenous and introduced (Coronel 2011) that contribute towards the livelihood of small holder farmers and village food security. The Philippine Government considers that jackfruit, durian and pomelo are emerging industries relative to their established export industry counterparts, such as banana and mango (PCAARRD, 2012) and thus they are being targeted for further research and development to assist their development and export potential. Recent statistics report that the approximate production areas occupied by jackfruit, pomelo and durian are 14,400, 5,300 and 18,800 ha with associated production volumes of 48,400, 33,400 and 77,500 metric tonnes respectively. The minor crops production data are small in comparison to major export tropical fruits such as banana (450,000 ha producing 9,100,000 tonnes) and mango (190,000 ha producing 825,000 tonnes) (Anit, 2012). Development of jackfruit, durian and pomelo beyond the current domestic supply is limited by low yields associated with disease, poor crop and postharvest management and the lack of processed product to build reliable production and export supply chains. The Australian tropical fruit industry (lychee, rambutan, pomelo, jackfruit, durian and others), whilst small in comparison, has an excellent collection of genera, species and associated varieties. The industry has developed substantially in the last 20 years and incorporated many advanced technologies. Significant inroads into production, postharvest and supply chain management have been made. In this project, jackfruit primarily was used as the model crop for investigations on the benefits of nursery hygiene, production technology and processing for industry development. The primary objectives of the project were multifaceted and included investigation into integrated disease management solutions, investigation of crop management options to improve yield and fruit quality and improved processing options. In the Philippines, the disease Phytophthora palmivora is a major hindrance to production in the nursery and orchard production stages. The project showed that nursery hygiene practices do have an impact on disease introduction and spread in the nursery, which is potentially transferred to the field. The pathogen Phytophthora was commonly found in potting media, irrigation water and surfaces in nurseries. The introduction of soilless and sterilised potting media, clean water, rock beds and raised benches, quarantine entry points are all ways of improving nursery hygiene and tree health. In orchards, disease management was investigated via the use of the plant defence regulator potassium phosphonate. Although the chemical is well proven to assist in the management of Phytophthora in a range of tropical fruits (avocado, papaya, pepper, pineapples, jackfruit and durian), the challenges in complying with registration in the Philippines currently inhibits uptake of the technology. Fertiliser trial results suggested that higher rates of fertiliser in conjunction with organic amendments can increase tree productivity. Investigation of interspecies rootstock scion combinations to improve tree disease resistance and productivity was a core component of the project. Disease susceptibility does vary with jackfruit variety. Several Artocarpus species do display resistance to Phytophthora based on inoculation testing of either detached leaf, stem or intact seedlings. A series of trials demonstrated that interspecies rootstocks is difficult but possible. Data generated suggests that marang (A. odoratissimus), is the most resistant species to Phytophthora. Trial data suggests that it may also impart a dwarfing effect on jackfruit development. Further field testing is required to authenticate the results and test the economics of interspecies grafting as a disease and tree management technique. Philippine indigenous and introduced Artocarpus species, along with samples from Australia and international sources, were genotyped using DArTseq SNP markers in an effort to better understand the relationships between species with particular reference to Page 5 Final report: Tropical tree fruit research and development in the Philippines and northern Australia to increase productivity, resilience and profitability jackfruit and graft success. Further work to examine the relationship between genetic markers and plant traits, such as disease resistance, fruit colour and texture, is now open for further investigation. The Australian components of the project examined the potential to improve the cyclone resilience of tree crops by trellising. A range of tropical fruit trees, including jackfruit, can be successfully trellised. Terminal flowering crops are difficult to manage on the trellis. During the project, the absence of cyclone effects in the trial area precluded direct testing of cyclone resilience. Trial results demonstrated that trellising is a potential high density production technique that improves fruit quality, ease of harvesting and potentially can improve cyclone resilience by providing a support scaffold to trees that limits tree height. Trials on improved fruit set in lychee and high density rambutan production were also completed under the project. This work supports improved productivity and high