Global Macadamia Science: Overview of the Special Section

Macadamia is a rapidly developing global crop; however, limited cultivation history and size of the industry means many challenges remain to support sustained productivity and profitability of this industry. This paper summarizes oral and poster presentations, and subsequent papers included in this volume, delivered at the 2017 International Macadamia Research Symposium, held in Hilo, HI, in September of that year. This was the first international meeting of macadamia researchers since 1992. The 28 oral and seven poster presentations covered propagation technology, tree physiology, soils and nutrition, pollination, pest and disease, orchard management, genetics and breeding, product development, and new production regions. Notable messages were that micrografting of macadamias is commercially viable; planting density and girdling could increase early yield per hectare; resource availability may limit cross-pollination yield; and yield production of individual branches is not independent. Integrated pest management was described to develop pest-resilient farming systems and manage felted coccid; an international collaborative approach was proposed for effective disease management and early detection; and the concept of integrated orchard management was used to translate research outputs into a common language for grower adoption. In the areas of breeding and genetic resources, research demonstrated that modern macadamia cultivars are two to four generations from wild but do not capture all wild diversity; progress was reported on the Macadamia Genome Project to produce the first macadamia reference genome; and advances in phenotypic selection and cultivar development were described.