Understanding the fundamentals of tree biology is essential in making sound orchard management and business decisions in the tree fruit and nut industry.  However, access to educational courses on basic fruit and nut tree biology, and how it relates to agronomic practices, is limited. Our course incorporates lecture, lab exercises, and field demonstrations to provide information on all aspects of basic plant biology and the relationship between plant biology and nuts and fruit orchard management.

Course Topics:

• Tree growth, development & pruning
• Dormancy, chilling & rest breaking
• Flowering, pollination & fruit set
• Fruit development & thinning
• Tree water relations & irrigation
• Plant nutrition & fertilization
• Root growth & rootstocks
• Tree fruit pests and pathogens
• Harvesting

Our course includes five days of instruction. Each day will have several hours of lectures with hands-on field demonstrations where applicable. The course is being offered for $1595.

An optional four day field trip will be held the following week (March 18-March 21, 2024) for an additional fee. This field trip will provide a view of fruit and nut breeding, growing, and processing facilities throughout the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys. Register for the field trip here: https://registration.ucdavis.edu/Item/Details/1048

Register here!

A limited number of scholarships will be offered towards the cost of the first week of the course. Scholarship applicants should be Californian growers on small farms with less than 40 acres of tree crops; additionally, they must be new growers with less than 3 years of experience in tree crops or in the process of transitioning between crops. Scholarship applications must be received by January 15, 2024. Apply for a scholarship here: https://surveys.ucanr.edu/survey.cfm?surveynumber=41297

Course lectures will be held at Foundation Plant Services and field demonstrations will take place in the UC Davis Teaching Orchards. Further information, and information about local lodging and transportation, will be shared with registered students closer to the beginning of the course.

Refunds will be granted in full if requested no later than March 1st, 2024. Refunds, less a $50 processing fee will be granted if requested after March 1st, 2024 but more than 24 hours in advance of the first class.

For course content questions, please contact the Fruit & Nut Research and Information Center staff at fruitsandnuts@ucdavis.edu.