Macadamia plantation Hinkler Park has “completely revolutionised” its farming practices to significantly reduce its carbon emissions.
In a first for the macadamia industry, Hinkler Park Plantations in Bundaberg, Queensland, has introduced a carbon sequestration initiative on-farm, reducing and removing enough carbon dioxide equivalent to be deemed carbon positive.
The 3000-hectare macadamia farm is a shareholder-supplier to Marquis Macadamias, the world’s largest grower, processor, and marketer of macadamias, with its products reaching 45 countries across five continents.
Hinkler’s Queensland general manager, and Marquis Macadamias director, Clayton Mattiazzi says it was a process of “going back to basics” that enabled the company to make major inroads into its carbon emissions.
Hinkler achieved total greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction and the removal of 17,670 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) between 2020/21 through carbon sequestration, and cutting energy and fertiliser use.
“This is the equivalent to offsetting the emissions from 4236 passenger vehicles for an entire year,” Mattiazzi says.
“We have shown that practices to promote soil health and fertility can significantly reduce GHG emissions, and increase GHG removal via soil organic carbon (SOC) improvement,” he adds.
Eight years ago, Hinkler was struggling with poor soil and tree health and low yields. Mattiazzi’s “going back to basics” began with implementing biological farming practices to reinvigorate the health of the farm and the quality of the crop.
“We created a media of nutrient rich material to optimise growing conditions for our macadamia trees.
“The key to this was repurposing the excess organic matter within the farm. Prunings, inter-row grass clippings, and nut husks were all mowed back under the tree into the soil to compost and feed our trees.
“This activity is supported with large anaerobic composted mulch that is made from excess farm waste,” Mattiazzi explains.
The result is a plantation that is biologically healthy with a more robust farming system, which sequesters more carbon than it produces.
Marquis Macadamias CEO Larry McHugh said growers throughout the global macadamia industry were taking advantage of macadamia trees’ natural resilience to improve sustainable growing practices and productivity.
McHugh says it is vital that Marquis Macadamias – as a business – as well as all of its’ growers work together to not only meet the needs of the present, but to preserve the land for future generations.
“The initiatives focus on ensuring healthy land and soils, optimising water, energy and electricity usage, waste management, and orchard management,” McHugh says.
At Hinkler, an independent audit conducted by sustainable food certifier Carbon Friendly found the GHG emissions intensity of macadamia nuts produced at the plantation reduced from 302 to -2,816 kilograms of CO2e per tonne between 2020 and 2021.
The Greenhouse Gas Emission Reductions & Removal Enhancements Report found that soil carbon improvement contributed to the removal of 2,935 kg CO2e per tonne of macadamia nuts during this period.
“It has completely revolutionised our farming operations,” Mattiazzi says.
“Not only do macadamias taste good and have a multitude of health benefits, but their sustainable production can also have positive impacts on the environment,” McHugh adds.
Marquis Macadamias growers’ on-farm sustainability initiatives include:
Water use efficiency
Macadamia farms in sub-tropical regions rely heavily on the region’s natural rainfall. In the Bundaberg region, growers supplement the rainfall with irrigation sourced from dams and bores, using the latest in monitoring systems to apply the right amount of water when needed.
Healthy soils on farms
Compost, woodchip and woodchip manure blends are used to improve soil health and structure on macadamia farms. Trees are pruned to promote grass growth between the trees on the orchard floor to reduce erosion.
Waste minimisation
Marquis Macadamias ensures the whole nut is used in production. On farm, growers add the macadamia husk under trees to improve soil health and to compost mixes. When pruning, growers chip branches to use as mulch. All macadamia shell from the factories is used either as renewable fuel to provide energy to dry nut-in-shell or is milled into stockfeed.
Integrated Pest and Disease Management (IPDM)
IPDM is central to successful and sustainable pest and disease management. IPDM involves careful monitoring of crops to identify areas of pest and/or disease activity. If monitoring finds that pest and/or pressure is above critical thresholds, these areas are targeted with various control strategies. Where appropriate, Marquis growers focus on maximising the use of cultural and biological control agents to minimise the use of pesticides.
Integrated Orchard Management (IOM)
On farm, Marquis Macadamias growers use IOM, which combines three fundamental pillars of orchard management: drainage, orchard floor management and canopy management. These pillars work together to minimise soil erosion, build soil health, reduce orchard suitability for pests, increase biodiversity and habitat for beneficial insects, and ensure healthy and productive trees.
Self-Audit System
Marquis Macadamias has a self-audited quality improvement system in place that all Marquis Macadamias growers must complete at the start of each year.
For Hinkler and Marquis, setting industry standards for sustainable production is a nut they are willing to crack.
This article first appeared in the May 2022 edition of Food & Drink Business.
