Growers are Working on the Almond Board of California’s Orchard 2025 Goals

Josette Lewis is Chief Scientific Officer with the Almond Board of California. She explains the support of the Orchard 2025 Goals.

“This year and in future years, we’re looking at how to support achieving the goals that our industry set last year,” said Lewis. “This is looking ahead at how can we keep almond production profitable in California as well as linking how we grow almonds to continuing to grow the market for almonds both in the United States and around the world,” she said.

Lewis noted that the Almond Board is very attuned to how consumers think about almonds, not only as a nutritious part of their diet, but also how those almonds are grown. “We want to communicate and keep our industry at the leading edge of the curve on sustainability,” noted Lewis.

“So the goals address some of the basic production side of the industry, and

looking at how growers can improve their production to meet the sustainability goals around improving water use efficiency in almond production, expanding use of integrated pest management practices, reducing dust at harvest.

We’re also creating more value and putting everything we grow in the orchard to optimal use,” Lewis explained.

And in this case, it's a zero waste goal. “So a fair amount of our research is directed to helping us achieve those goals,” noted Lewis