Adoption of quality management systems in macadamia (MC03008)

This is a final research report from Hort Innovation’s historical archives. Please note that as these reports may date back as far as the 1990s, the content and recommendations within them may be superseded by more recent research.

What was it all about?

The Australian macadamia industry has conducted considerable research on the effects of on-farm practices on macadamia nut in shell (NIS) and kernel quality. These include studies of nut drying, storage, handling and harvesting and agronomic practices. The adoption of these findings provides quality benefits for processors, marketers and consumers, but not necessarily for growers. The adoption of the practices may involve significant additional investment in on-farm infrastructure and major changes in production practices. Without sound economic information relating to the costs and benefits of these changes, growers have found it difficult to justify the investment of money and time. As a result, the adoption of these research findings has been limited and extremely slow.

This project aimed to examine the entire production chain but due to difficulties in accessing processing information, the surveying and examination of the benefits ended at the farm gate. There were still considerable potential economic benefits.