UC plant scientists have established critical values for determining nutrient status in almond and pistachio. However, there is concern these and other guidelines to manage fertilization may be underutilized, and would be strengthened by timely review.

The goals of this project are to survey current practices, concerns and needs in almond and pistachio nutrition, collate existing information and best management practices, and design a new initiative to increase the efficiency of fertilizer usage and guide research and educational programs. Links are provided to interactive online models currently used to calculate fertilization requirements.

Grower Surveys

In the initial phase of the project, a survey of California almond and pistachio growers was developed utilizing the participation of small focus groups of industry stakeholders. The final survey comprising 37 questions, was completed by a randomly selected group of growers in 2007. Demographic information regarding the surveyed growers and survey results are presented.