Hazelnut Program of Research

Charles Sturt University

  • Project code: PRO-018139

  • Project stage: Current

  • Project start date: Sunday, June 16, 2024

  • Project completion date: Sunday, May 13, 2029

  • National Priority: NEI - New and Emerging Industries - M1

Summary

The hazelnut industry in Australia has a long history, extending over multiple decades, but has grown only slowly. International demand for hazelnuts is high and increasing so there is an opportunity to grow the Australian industry to meet domestic demands and potentially develop significant international markets. The Australian Hazelnut 2030 Strategic Blueprint identified a series of priorities for the research necessary to grow the industry in a sustainable manner. Emerging from this Strategic Blueprint, a call by AgriFutures Australia let to the formation of a consortium of research and industry organisations to refine the Strategic Blueprint’s priorities in to a smaller set of actionable research projects. The resulting five-year program of research, led by Charles Sturt University in concert with AgriFutures Australia and a consortium of research and industry partners, will position the Australian hazelnut industry for an expanded and sustainable future. By conducting a series of carefully-designed projects that target priorities identified by the Australian Hazelnut 2030 Strategic Blueprint, we will provide solutions to major current and near future issues that constrain growth. Aligned with a comprehensive communications and extension program in collaboration with Central Queensland University, the program team will ensure rapid and effective pipelining of information to current and prospective growers and investors. The program consists of three themes that cover : (i) production (ii) benchmarking and (iii) communication and extension. The projects within each of the three themes are outlined in the following section.

Program

New and Emerging Industries

Research Organisation

Charles Sturt University