On October 18, the 8th International Macadamia Symposium (China session), a topic named "High Altitude Mountain Planting Technology" attracted the attention of many experts and scholars. During the previous inspection of Lincang nut cultivation, many foreign nut experts expressed their amazement at the large-scale planting of macadamia nuts in the mountains. Gregory Jones, a grower from Australia, said he was deeply impressed by the difficulty of growing macadamia nuts in Lincang. The people here did a lot of hard work to develop local macadamia industry.

Li Xiaobo, technical director of Yunaoda Nut Developing Co.,Ltd, presented planting techniques systematically in this symposium. The following contents select from his presentation. 

The core is to do well in soil and water conservation.

Li Xiaobo said that high altitude mountain planting, mainly adopt in the altitude of 800 to 1200 meters in the range of planting areas. In China, almost all the hot areas suitable for macadamia nut production are mountainous areas with slopes above 15 degrees. Compared with planting macadamia nuts in plains or relatively flat terrain, high-altitude mountainous cultivation and core technology is to do a good job of soil and water conservation and prevent soil erosion. In view of this, the technology has been systematically studied and practiced in the aspects of land preparation planning, planting variety selection, weed control, pruning technology, tree nutrition management and pest control.

Angle of inclination of 3~5 degress for planting platform

Different from the traditional planting method of constructing planting platforms along contour lines, planting nuts in Lincang mountains requires tilting the entire planting platform inward by 3-5 degrees. In rainfall season, it can better achieve drainage and reduce the brush force to prevent the collapse of the mountain and soil erosion.

Suitable planting varieties and planting density are the guarantees of high yield.

Li Xiaobo said in his speech that seedling is the base, seed-based, management measures are the standard; no good foundation, no good measures have achieved limited results.

In terms of variety selection, Macadamia nuts can be divided into low-temperature and high-temperature varieties according to different climate types; O.C, 344 and other varieties have better wind resistance. Based on the maturity indicator, 788 varieties matured earliest, O.C maturity is the latest.

In terms of planting density, the vertical type varieties should be planted closely and the open type varieties should be sparsely planted. The average plant spacing should be kept at 4-5 meters, and the row spacing should be 6-8 meters.

Comprehensive management and protection, ensuring environmental conservation and high yield

Li Xiaobo introduced that the high altitude cultivation technology in mountainous areas also takes environmental protection into account. In weed control, the use of any herbicide is strictly prohibited. Normally, non-malignant weeds are retained between rows, and weeds are controlled by artificial weeding; weeds cut are covered in the canopy in situ, with the benefit of gradually improving soil organic matter content.

In the aspect of pollination, bee culture under the forest can improve the pollination rate and fruit setting rate. And in the aspect of pest control, plant protection policy of "prevention first, comprehensive control" is firmly implemented.

At the same time, according to the different age of the tree, the scientific fertilization program was formulated to fully guarantee the nutritional needs of fruit trees in different growth cycles.

As a unique planting method in Yunnan, high-altitude mountain planting technology is implemented by Yunnan nut leading enterprise Yunaoda Company. On the basis of introducing foreign high-yield cultivation techniques and methods, combining with local actual innovation, a set of independent intellectual property rights of mountain planting soil and water conservation  promoting the healthy cycle of ecological environment has been formed. The unique planting technology of the exhibition has obtained the global good agricultural operation standard GLOBAL-GAP certification. It has been compiled as an excellent example of the National Forestry Administration "2011 National Forestry Standardization Demonstration Zone Typical Materials Collection”.