NZ Breaking News: Kiwifruit Growers Save Stake Money on New Plantings
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| Potential savings
worth millions of dollars to the Kiwifruit industry as growers cut out the
need for stakes - a major overhead with new plantings. The reason - a product
from DiBro called the 'Arrow' Ground Anchor. Already popular with Apple and
Pear growers as a tool to anchor lower laterals as an aid in branch training
and fruit maturation, the Arrow anchor holds twine in the ground and the other
end tied off to the overhead wire. Holding is vastly superior to older 'W'
shaped metal anchors that the Arrow supersedes.
A new vine is simply planted next to the string and trained up all the way to to wire. DiBro (NZ) Mfg Ltd have been manufacturing Tree Ties and training equipment for Pipfruit growers for over twelve years and have an extensive range of trellis and stake ties and training products, many of which are exported. Director Mike Dickinson says: "We have been developing and making products for apples and pears for a long time, and it's no surprise that some of them will do a good job in other disciplines. We know that Grape growers are now using the Arrow to train their vines UP string, rather than tying off the top of the vine to lead it to the wire, because they were losing too many vines to breaking off or strangulation". The Arrow Anchor works in all soil types. Some pipfruit growers anchor up to 6 laterals with one anchor! The sharp entry makes it easy to push into the ground while the shape of the 'wings' spreads the load of the twine evenly. Full holding is developed as the soil re-compacts, typically in 1 - 2 days. This degree of holding is not required by the planting for at least 4 - 6 weeks. The operator ties twine off in a hole on top of the Arrow then pushes the anchor into tapered end of applicator. String passes through the purpose made slot on the side of the rod. The Applicator and Arrow are then pushed into ground with an operator's foot pressing on the footplate, which pre-sets depth. Twine may then be tied off to wire. DiBro's Applicator is supplied pre-drilled to give an anchor depth of about 300mm, but the user may drill the rod to give less or greater depth which may be required in very sandy soils. The applicator is well over a metre long to cope with all conditions and has an 'operator friendly' hand grip. Financial savings are very impressive. The Arrow anchor costs about 6 cents, plus a length of twine, against several Dollars for a stake. Savings are enhanced as there is also no gap between stake and wire to allow for. Time for installing Arrow is about one third that of installing a stake. |
