2019 ASHS Annual Conference

Macadamia nut (Macadamia integrifolia) is one of the most important agricultural commodities for the state of Hawaii with 18,000 acres in production and a farm value of $53.9 million. Although many of the commercial plantings in the state are made up of cultivars developed in Hawaii, no new cultivars have been released in Hawaii recently. High quality, good yield, and tree shape are characteristics of selections chosen for a multi-site trial of macadamia selections from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Five new selections and two released selections (‘344’ and ‘800’) were evaluated at two locations on Hawaii Island (Waiakea Research Station and Kainaliu Research Station). Fields were established in 2001 and yield and quality data collections began in fall of 2015. Three full years of data were collected. Location significantly affected yield and quality, with yields being higher at the Kainaliu Research Station than at the Waiakea Research Station. Several selections of macadamia (‘879’, ‘887’ and ‘900’) yielded higher than the released selections ‘344’ and ‘800’. Quality of these selections was also high, with good kernel recovery and acceptable kernel weights.