Kiwis love their avocados, but none more so than New Zealand National Fieldays Society scholarship winner, Shannon Hunter.
Hunter has been awarded the $22,000 Sir Don Llewellyn Scholarship in June, awarded yearly to a student undertaking research with a focus on advancing the agricultural sector.
The scholarship has assisted Hunter's research to establish whether the virus that causes root rot in New Zealand avocado orchards is developing resistance to phosphite, which is commonly used to treat dieback.
The research is the first of its kind in New Zealand and was prompted by studies in Australia and South Africa that indicated some strains of the soil borne mould that leads to root rot, Phytophthora cinnamomi, had increased resistance to the fungicidal treatment.
Hunter, a University of Waikato student carrying out her research in Rotorua, has developed a method of testing soil samples from New Zealand orchards using an optical density plate scanner, this method allows her to save time and resources in her research.