The Lenswood Research Centre was established in 1963 to serve ‘cool temperate horticulture industries’, such as the growing of apples, pears, and cherries. After redevelopment in 1992 it was renamed as the Lenswood Horticulture Centre.
There was a decline in funding in the new century, and eventually the centre was closed in 2014, with the excuse that growers ‘could rely on research coming out of Victoria’.
Amongst its many achievements, during half a century, the Centre had pioneered more intensive forms of fruit production. The ‘Lenswood System’ of orchard design was adopted nationally by the cherry industry – it involved tree trellising, bird netting, and the dwarfing of rootstocks. Comparable work was done with apples. The Centre encouraged a range of new crops such as avocado and kiwi fruit.
A national cherry breeding program was begun at Lenswood in the 1990s. This pioneered the use of DNA screening to help improve seedling crosses.
What could prompt the defunding and closure of an institution of such proven worth? At the time of closure, in 2014, Susie Green, the chief executive of the Apple and Pear Growers Association of South Australia, expressed her disappointment, saying that Adelaide Hills growers needed local support: ‘While there is research being conducted interstate, what we’re really missing is that local validation and on the ground expertise here locally’.
One legacy of the Centre is the transformed appearance of many Hills orchards, with smaller trees, trellising, and birdnetting.
Sources:
https://www.pir.sa.gov.au/aghistory/government/department_of_agriculture/locations/ Lenswood
https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2014-04-03/lenswood-agricultural-centre-
closure/5364928 ; Marilyn Henderson; APAL
If you have recollections, knowledge or further information that you would like to share about the people, places or events described here, then please contact us at mldhs@mtloftyhistoricalsociety.org.au
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