Almond Research Opportunities

California almond orchards encompass 1.25 million acres statewide, with the vast majority of this acreage in the Central Valley surrounding Pacific Ag Research’s Fresno-area research facility. Almonds are grown as far south as Kern and as far north as Tehama County.  California produces over 80% of the world’s almonds and satisfies 100% of domestic consumption.  The total value of the production is close to 4 billion US dollars annually.

Pacific Ag Research almond orchards are located in and around Five Points, CA. We maintain established orchards for a diverse field research program on site but can also plant new sapling trees from the nursery and dedicate managed and secure land for multiple season studies. Annual trialing of new products and grower sponsored experimentation varies from at-planting to post harvest for crop protection or agronomy crop performance trials. As an experienced Central Valley CRO, we work with experiments aimed at improving farming practices for pest management of Navel Orangeworm (NOW), nematodes, as well as common blossom and foliar diseases that affect almond production.
Common Pathology Test Systems
Testing of fungicide efficacy can be performed against many almond pathogens, such as: Blossom blight  (Monilinia sp.) trials start at bloom in February, Anthracnose, Alternaria sp., Scab, Bacterial Canker / Bacterial Blast, Phytophthora Root Rot, Jacket Rot, Hull Rot

Common Arthropod Species
Insecticide efficacy can be tested against many insect, mite and ant species, such as: Navel Orangeworm (Amyelois transitella), Peach Twig Borer (Anarsia lineatella), Web Spinning Mites, Southern Fire Ant
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Nematode Studies
Nematodes, especially Root Knot Nematode, are a major pest of almonds, and Pacific Ag Research has in-house nematode identification and quantification capabilities located on-site at Five Points.  Ring, Lesion, and Dagger Nematodes are present in our research plots, and we can supplement with pure cultures of these and other nematode species upon request.  We can conduct nematode field trials on our own secure research station, off site on surrounding commercial farms, as well as in contained microplots, with uniform nematode densities and specific plant parasitic species from our pure culture inventory.

Agronomy Studies
With enhancements in farming technology and developments in precision farming over the past decade, today’s almond growers realize increased production efficiency and yields. Fertilizer research trials are common in our R&D program, with both soil and foliar applications of products tested for effects to nut quality and overall yield. Further, with water use a major concern for almond producers, there is much interest in recent years with field trials evaluating products and techniques to improve water use efficiency.

Biostimulants that mitigate abiotic stress are also of great interest, and we have tools and methods to study crop response for developers with these types of products. Nitrogen use efficiency is another current concern which can be studied in field scale, and considering the large number of acres involved with almond production, improved efficiency is beneficial to the environment as well as the farmer’s bottom line. Metrics for agronomy trials may include flower set, flower and nut retention, photosynthesis, transpiration, yield and quality of harvested nuts, to name a few.
Almond Timelines*
CALIFORNIA
  • Dormancy – November through January
  • Bloom – Mid-February through Mid-March
  • Hull Split – July
  • Harvest – August through September
*General timings subject to current seasonal weather conditions

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