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THE FRUIT GROWER • APRIL 2014 www.actpub.co.uk

OPINION

THE FRUIT GROWER IS PUBLISHED BY

There’s been much in the news recently to gladden the hearts of fruit and vegetable growers.Not just ‘5 A Day’ but ‘7 A Day’ will keep the doctor away and prolong your life, according tothe latest report from London University. Although the 5 A Day campaign message is nowwell understood by the general public, unfortunately only one in four people in this country hitthe 5 A Day target, so any new publicity should help increase consumption. Admittedly it isvegetables that get the biggest thumbs up, but the latest research emphasises that thehealth benefits are from eating fresh fruit and that fruit juice is not a substitute. It is good tohear that the Marden Fruit Show Society has devised an education programme about applesfor schools in Kent which has been well received. To go further, financial backing is needed,so good luck to the committee in seeking sponsorship.

Climate change leading to serious impacts on global agriculture has also been big news asthe UN’s Climate Change Committee (IPCC) presented their latest findings. Professor PeterGregory, in his recent Amos Memorial lecture, points out that in this country we must now beplanning for the unexpected. Although winters may become wetter on average, the numberof winter droughts may also increase. Similarly, although summers may be drier on average,the incidence of intense rainfall may increase. More extremes of weather are much morelikely. His warning that the date of the last frost has not changed, even if there has been awarming effect on average temperature over the last 50 years, is somewhat chilling this yearwith an unusually early spring bringing flowering dates forward.

The annual EMRA Top Fruit Storage Day with its presentations and prize-giving is reported inthis issue and underscores some of the advances that we have seen in the industry over thelast decade. The fruit pressures, particularly for Cox, show a marked improvement and DrMartin Luton, in his annual review of the storage season, points out that this is due to theintroduction of SmartFresh. Congratulations to all the winners. At least the 2013/14 top fruitmarketing season is drawing to a close in an orderly fashion.

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C O N T E N T S

News Page 4

Fruit ShowSociety AGM Page 14

EMRA Top FruitStorage Day Page 16

Spring TechnicalSeminar Page 23

Amos MemorialLecture Page 27

Cameo Farm Walk Page 30

Pick your own Page 32

Comment Page 35

Apple thinning Page 36

Research Briefing Page 38LION HOUSE, CHURCH STREETMAIDSTONE, KENT ME14 1EN

TEL: 01622 695656 FAX: 01622 663733e-mail: [email protected]

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4 F N e w s F

www.actpub.co.uk THE FRUIT GROWER • APRIL 2014

Following a successful first year of use on protectedstrawberries, the fungicide Fenomenal (fenamidone + fosetyl-aluminium) is being acknowledged as the new standard forcontrol of crown rot (Phytophthora cactorum).

Agrii fruit agronomist David Skittrall welcomed its arrival lastyear. “One hopes that class ‘A’ material is free from crown rot,but that’s not always the case and it’s becoming an increasingissue for growers sourcing plants propagated on the continent.Since the demise of Aliette, Fenomenal has been very usefuland it’s good to now have it available to all with approval foruse under glass and polytunnels.”

David particularlylikes its flexibility: “I’mnow using it as thestandard on all newlyplanted material as anearly season spray.Spraying works bestfor growers’ logistics,but it’s helpful to alsohave the flexibility todip or drench.” Davidadvises treatment twoto three weeks afterplanting once fibrousroot growth has startedto establish, andstresses that plantsmust be activelygrowing at the time oftreatment. This onespray approach hasappeared to work verywell, he confirms.

Another Agrii fruitagronomist, KevinWorkman, has recentlyseen losses to crownrot ranging from 1-20%depending on theseason and plantsource. “60-daybearers grown underglass face the biggestchallenge from thedisease. For these Iuse Paraat(dimethomorph) atplanting and nowfollow with sprays ofFenomenal going into

and out of winter.”He deploys the two products in this way to implement a

programme that fits around label restrictions. The Fenomenallabel offers the flexibility of two applications a year includingone foliar spray which may be applied two weeks afterplanting. A second spray application may be made in thefollowing spring at re-growth. “As Fenomenal contains twoactive substances with complementary modes of action, itsinclusion in control programmes builds in resistancemanagement as well as combining protectant and systemicactivity”, Kevin concludes.

New standard for crown rot control

EMRA/HDC Tree Fruit Day

Technical Up-Date on Tree Fruit Researchy

Thursday 24 April 2014 10.00am – 3.30pmEast Malling Research Conference Centre, New Road, East Malling, Kent,

ME19 6BJ

HDC continues to fund scientific research projects to find solutions to some of the most pressingproblems faced by tree fruit growers. There are currently 24 projects which are directly funded bythe HDC Tree Fruit Panel budget. These include post-harvest research, breeding, genetics andtrials to improve the growth characteristics of rootstocks used by the industry. Water and nutritionwork is also being funded to reduce resource wastage and improve fruit quality. In addition, awhole range of projects are being funded to develop novel and improved control methods forinsect pests and diseases.

This event will provide growers with a resumé of the results provided this year by some of themost advanced projects being undertaken at East Malling Research and elsewhere.

The programme

10.00 Arrive & coffee10.30 Delivering relevant research to the tree fruit industry (Scott Raffle, HDC)10.45 Increased risk of canker in 2014 (Paul Bennett, Agrovista)11.05 Apple rots – from orchard to store (Robert Saville, EMR)11.25 SCEPTRE update on apple powdery mildew and pear Botrytis (Angela Berrie, EMR)11.45 Stone Fruit LINK – Novel pest and disease control methods (Jerry Cross, EMR)12.15 Increasing insect pollination (Michelle Fountain, EMR)12.35 Lunch1.30 Developing a monitoring trap for the apple fruit Rhynchites (Bethan Shaw, EMR)1.50 Developing spray programmes to maintain earwig populations (Michelle Fountain, EMR)2.10 Irrigation strategies for tree fruit (Mark Else, EMR)2.30 Tree choice and pruning management for fruit walls (Tim Biddlecombe, FAST)2.50 Application of linkage map construction in cherry breeding (Emma Skipper, EMR)3.10 The next generation of cherry varieties (Feli Fernandez, EMR)3.30 Tea and close

If you would like to attend the event, please contact Caroline Bloodworth by telephone on0247 647 8677 or at [email protected] by Tuesday 22 April 2014.


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A new grower guide has been produced by the HDC for thesoft fruit industry which outlines the various options availablefor harvesting and recycling water.

The new guide, entitled “Water harvesting and recycling insoft fruit” provides comprehensive information on the range ofsystems available to growers for collecting water from tunnels,glasshouses and run-off water from soilless substrate growncrops. There is also very helpful information on how to treatcollected water to remove physical and biologicalcontaminants before re-using the water within a productionsystem.

The guide was written by John Atwood of ADAS, who spenta considerable amount of time gathering information on the fullrange of water harvesting and recycling systems currentlybeing used in the UK and in the Netherlands. John visited softfruit growers and hardy nursery stock producers to examinethe different methods currently being employed. Much of theinformation collected is presented in a series of case studiesfrom commercial production sites, which will allow growers toweigh up the options for their own site.

HDC Fruit Knowledge Transfer Manager Scott Raffleexplained that the guide was produced in response to growerrequests for information on how best to collect water on softfruit production units and how to re-use it within their system.

The specification forthe guide was drawnup by HarrietDuncalfe of H&HDuncalfe and RichardHarnden of BerryGardens.

Commenting onthe guide, HarrietDuncalfe said, “I amdelighted with thepublication and amconfident that softfruit growers willfind it very usefulwhen weighing upthe optionsavailable to themfor installing water harvesting and recyclingsystems. We are really grateful to all those businesses both inthe UK and the Netherlands who were willing to share theirinformation and practices with us”.

To obtain a copy of the guide, contact Louise Arculus on02476 478661 or email: [email protected].

Improve your resistance

management. Use Teldor early.

Teldor® is a registered trademark of Bayer and contains fenhexamid. Use plant protection products safely. Always read the label and product information before use. Pay attention to the risk indications and follow the safety precautions on the label. For further information,please visit www.bayercropscience.co.uk or call Bayer Assist on 0845 609 2266 or 01223 226644. © Bayer CropScience 2014.

Alternate with Teldor on your June, 60-day and ever-bearers, and you’ll help avoid resistance problems from over-use of other strawberry fungicides.That’s because Teldor has a unique chemistry and mode of action.

throughout your Botrytis programme.Wake up to Teldor. Talk to your advisor, call 0845 609 2266 or 01223 226644 or see www.bayercropscience.co.uk/teldor

FOR A MORE FRUITFUL BUSINESS

HDC publishes new water guide for soft fruit growers


6 F N e w s F


The BIFGA Spring Farm Walk will be held on Wednesday 14May at Owl House Fruit Farm, Mount Pleasant Lane,Lamberhurst, Kent, TN3 8LY at 4.00pm.

BIFGA wishes to acknowledge the generous support beinggiven towards the event by N P Seymour Ltd of Cranbrook,Kent, who will be demonstrating a BMV Mechanical Pruner.

After walking the apple and cherry orchards there will be atour of the juicing plant. The visit is by kind permission of ColinCorfield, who took over the farm in 1985 and now has 24years’ experience of making juice from fruit grown on the farm.He specialises in tree-ripened fruit and he now producesseven apple juices, two pear juices and nine of mixed fruit. Hisjuice has twice won first prize at the National Fruit Show, forWorcester apple and a Cox/Bramley blend. In addition, he haswon the Great Taste Award every year for the last 12 years.

To book contact the BIFGA Secretary on 01892 722080 oremail: [email protected] and send a cheque for £8.50 perperson to Aylsham, Broad Oak, Brenchley, Tonbridge, Kent,TN12 7NN.

general soil science.Since then she hasworked atuniversities in the UKand Sweden,researching a rangeof soil-based topicalissues inenvironmentalscience. These haveincluded subjects asdiverse as the effectsof warmer winters onthe micro-organismsliving in the frozensoils of northernSweden and the widerconsequences of new nanoparticle-based methods ofcleaning-up contaminated land for the micro-organisms thatlive in soil and the plants used for site re-vegetation.

Whilst working at the University of Reading, Emmadeveloped a laboratory-based test procedure to assess therisks to human health posed by polluted soils. In this testpolluted soils were exposed to the physical, chemical andmicrobiological conditions of the human digestive system. So,she summarises her research interests as extending fromplough to plate and beyond. At EMR, however, Emma doesn’tintend to go beyond the plate, unless it’s been recycled and isready for the plough! In fact one of her first research prioritiesis to perform trials with strawberry fruit waste that would neverreach our plates. The Spotted Wing Drosophila project at EMRhas developed an anaerobic disinfestation process for wastefruit and Emma intends to trial the use of the digestate withincereal production. Other research priorities include helpingprofessional growers make the transition to peat-free growingmedia by 2030 and reducing the severity of soil-basedproblems such as apple replant disease.

Kent shares the same geology as her native West Sussex,so the landscape around East Malling is already very familiar,albeit with orchards replacing the glasshouses of tomatoesand cucumbers in which she worked during the summerholidays in her teenage years. After many years working inScotland, Emma is delighted to be back in the “SouthCountry”. Emma has adored apple blossom since 1976 whenshe and her family moved to a house with a very matureBramley’s Seedling apple tree in the garden. She feelsparticularly privileged to be working at EMR as asoil/rhizosphere scientist and is very excited about improvingour understanding of the soil management techniquesrequired for the famous Malling apple rootstocks to perform attheir best.

With changes abounding at East MallingResearch (EMR), The Fruit Grower is taking a lookat the new names arriving at the world-famousresearch station in Kent. These new arrivals arepart of EMR Chief Executive Professor PeterGregory’s plans to revitalise the site and becomerecognised as the pre-eminent research institute inthe UK for perennial and clonally propagatedcrops.

Dr Emma TilstonEmma joined EMR in November 2013 as a Soil/Rhizosphere

Scientist. After a BSc (Hons) in Biological Sciences from theUniversity of Exeter she worked as a research anddevelopment scientist for the waste recycling companyEcological Sciences Ltd. Her pioneering research into thesuppression of soil-borne plant pathogens, such asPhytophthora fragariae with composted wastes, formed partof her PhD studies in plant pathology and compost science. Itwas while she was writing her thesis that she realised that shedidn’t know enough about the environment that defined thepathogens that had caught her fascination, namely soil.

A post-doctoral research position at the University of Stirlingprovided the opportunity to not only extend her knowledge ofplant-soil-microbial interactions in the soil closest to roots –the so-called ‘rhizosphere’, but also to acquire expertise in

BIFGA Spring Farm Walk

New names at East Malling Research


7F N e w s F


AgroFresh, a fully owned subsidiary of The Dow ChemicalCompany and a global business unit of Dow AgroSciencesLLC, and Van Amerongen CA-Technology, an internationalleader in controlled atmosphere (CA) equipment, haveannounced the signing of a Letter of Intent for a businessalliance to market a new technology for Advanced ControlRespiration (ACR) that will combine new equipment and controlsystems with a comprehensive set of fruit quality managementservices.

This business alliance will be based on a combination of VanAmerongen’s sound expertise in CA storage equipment,software and machinery development, and AgroFresh’sextensive knowledge of fruit quality, post-harvest physiology,shelf-life extension and ethylene control, based on more than10 years of commercialization of its SmartFreshSM QualitySystem.

“We are pleased to join forces with Van Amerongen,” saidJosé Soares de Pina, President of AgroFresh. “Van Amerongenis renowned for its continuous strong investment in R & D,designed to bring the latest innovative CA technologies to themarket. Their knowledge, and the reliability of their systems,programs and equipment, make them an excellent choice for

this alliance. The combination of Van Amerongen’s equipmenttechnology with AgroFresh’s vast experience in post-harvestdisorder control, fruit quality and shelf-life extension will bringunique synergies and benefits to the fresh produce industry,adding significant value to our customers’ operations.”

“We are a company of inventors, explorers, engineers andvisionaries,” said Wim van den Berg, CEO of Van Amerongen:“We have always worked towards raising standards andfocusing on excellence. We know what moves the market.Through the knowledge we are acquiring continuously, we arestaying a step ahead for our customers. Avoiding or minimizingrisks for our customers is what we are aiming at with ourtechnical solutions and services.”

“AgroFresh is a science and technology company and ourbusiness model is rooted in a close, direct relationship withcustomers, which puts AgroFresh in a strong position to offerpersonalized advice and services that cater directly to thespecific needs of growers, packers and shippers,” said JoséSoares de Pina.

Both companies are excited about the potential of thisalliance and working together to benefit the fresh producesector.

AgroFresh and Van Amerongen announce newstorage technology alliance


8 F N e w s F


Leading agronomy services company Agrii has joined upwith Syngenta Bioline to offer fruit growers easy access tosome of the most innovative biocontrol products currentlyavailable.

“Biological control is an increasingly important element ofintegrated pest management in both top and soft fruit, asfewer new conventional pesticides reach the market andwith greater restrictions imposed on those left,” said Agriiagronomist Kevin Workman. “They are also now a valuableway of managing pests that are difficult to control by anyother means.”

The agreement also includes Syngenta Bioline’s Beelinehives for pollination in a wide range of fruit crops, includingapples, raspberries and strawberries.

While it is the soft fruit sector, and strawberries especially,which has probably seen the greatest use of biological

controls andbeneficialinsects sofar,SyngentaBiolineaccountmanagerCarolineReid saidtop fruitgrowers arealso lookingmore tobiocontrol to

tackle specific problems.“For example, we producethe predatory anthocoridbug Anthocoris nemoralisas Antholine which is aparticularly efficientpredator of pear sucker,”she said. “There has beenincreasing interest fromgrowers looking to releaseanthocorid adults into pearorchards.”

One of SyngentaBioline’s most recentinnovations for protectedstrawberries is Bugline, apatented delivery systemfor the predatory mites Amblyseius andersoni, to tacklespider mites, and A. cucumeris, for thrips control. Slow-release sachets are fixed at pre-set distances along a stripthat is simply rolled out down the crop bed. Not only does itsave growers time to ‘introduce’ over large areas,compared with hanging out separate sachets, but it alsoensures that the mites are accurately distributed.

“We’re pleased to be working with a partner with suchlongstanding expertise in this field and which has areputation for leading the development of new biologicalcontrol agents and ways of releasing them to crops toimprove their effectiveness,” said Kevin Workman. “AndAgrii’s team of agronomists will be on hand to help you getthe best from each product.”

New partnership to help fruit growers getthe best from biocontrol

Biological solutions key for managing thripsGrowers are being urged to carefully consider the role of

biological controls as the first line of defence in the armouryagainst thrips.

“Thrips are one of the key pests for soft fruit growers,particularly in strawberry crops,” comments Colin Govett, BCPCertis’ Technical Account Manager. “It is important not to solelyrely on insecticides, as has historically been the case.Incorporating other control options will reduce the chances ofthe pest building up a resistance to the available chemicaloptions, and with those options becoming increasingly limited, abroader, IPM approach is more important than ever,” says Colin.

Putting this into operation requires BCP Certis AccountManagers to maintain a regular dialogue with their customers,so that they can deliver on-the-spot advice and a tailored pest

control solution. “As well as having an Integrated PestManagement plan in place, fast action is usually the secret tokeeping on top of a population of thrips,” notes Colin.

“Amblyseius cucumeris is a predatory mite which can be usedto help control thrips. As Amblyseius only feed on the immaturestages of the pest, Orius Laevigatus should also be added tothe programme to control the adult stage. Understanding thiskind of information is important as it clearly demonstrates whythe bio-controls deliver a more effective defence whenintroduced preventatively rather than when the pest hasestablished. It’s also why monitoring for thrips is so important.Depending on the number of people in the team on the nursery,it is advisable to have a dedicated person or group to focus onmonitoring pest activity.”


9F N e w s F


April 2014 sees the tenth anniversary of UK CA Ltd, formedby Ken Hatch and bringing together some 40 years ofexperience in engineering within the fresh produce storageindustry. The aim has been to provide a genuine and personalservice to both larger and smaller growers alike, travellingthroughout the UK installing controlled atmosphere and coldstorage systems, not only for apples and pears, but also forcabbages, onions and blueberries. Working with experts in thefield, UK CA has also gained an enviable reputation in ethylenecontrol and is not only celebrating a big birthday but alsogaining the distribution rights to BIO-TURBO®, a revolutionarynew system for the removal of ethylene and airbornepathogens, which UKCA Ltd now distributes throughout theUK for Miatech Inc.

BIO-TURBO is perfect for coldstores, packing areas etc,anywhere fruit, vegetables and cut flowers can cross-contaminate with ethylene and airborne pathogens causingpremature ripening and mould or rot formation. The system isproduced in a range of models to suit cold rooms from 300 to6000 cubic metres, is easy to install and features low energyconsumption.

Having installed a number of these machines during the past12 months UK CA is pleased that customers are reportingquite astonishing results, witnessing greener fruit andvegetables, retained firmness and a huge reduction in mouldand general deterioration. Customers are achieving longerstorage in regular cold stores with better quality produce beingsent to market.

Dissatisfied with the results from potassium permanganateand UV-light-based systems, UK CA saw the potential in BIO-TURBO which works using high concentration ozone, safelycontained within the machine, which forms the basis ofMiatech’s design patent.

Another exciting step in UK CA’s growth has been to gain

firsthand experience in dynamic control (DCA) of CA storeshere in the UK, working for Italian company Isolcell on the veryfirst UK DCA installation on behalf of premier growers F. W.Mansfield & Son during the summer of 2013. Ken Hatchcommented, “The foresight of Paul Mansfield has given us afantastic opportunity to gain unrivalled experience inintroducing DCA to the UK storage sector and we lookforward to being at the front of storage technology for another10 years”

For more information, please contactCustomer Services on 0845 607 3322

Working with Syngenta Bioline, Agrii offer premium quality benefi cial insects and mites to UK growers to protect their vegetables, fruits and fl ower crops using Integrated Crop Solutions.

HorticulturalIntelligence

www.agrii.co.uk

Bumblebees for pollination in fruit and vegetables.

Unique products such as Anderline, Montyline and Thripline.

Innovative delivery systems, Gemini and Bugline.

UK CA Ltd marks 10 years in business


10 F N e w s F


New biocontrol training videos produced by HDC for useon soft fruit farms are now available for viewing on the softfruit page of the HDC’s website.

The videos have been produced for the purpose oftraining seasonal workers on soft fruit farms on thereasons for using biological control products, how tointroduce them to the crop and how to manage themfollowing introduction.

HDC Fruit Knowledge Transfer Manager Scott Raffleexplained the reason for producing these videos in timefor the 2014 soft fruit production season. “Each year, theHDC consults with grower levy payers and theiragronomists to discuss the most pressing research andcommunications needs of the industry. Last year, wedebated the success of biocontrol on soft fruit farms andit was felt by many that seasonal workers were not alwaysfully briefed on why they were being asked to introducepredatory insects to soft fruit crops or how they shouldmake the introductions. HDC decided to fund the filmingand production of training videos to inform and instructthese workers and we have translated them intoBulgarian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Romanian andSlovakian to suit the needs of the majority of workerscurrently employed on soft fruit farms. By making themavailable on the HDC website, workers will be able towatch them on their current range of viewing devices inthe field or on the headland”.

Raffle adds that the HDC is extremely grateful to RobertIrving of ADAS for producing the script and helping withthe filming and also to BCP Certis for providing samples ofpredators for use when filming.

Four videos have been made initially, one as anintroduction outlining why biocontrol is used andexplaining basic guidelines to follow when taking deliveryof and storing insect predators. The others dealspecifically with how to introduce and use Phytoseiuluspersimilis for two-spotted spider mite control, Neoseiuluscucumeris for tarsonemid mite and thrips control, andpredatory nematodes for vine weevil control.

Each of the four videos are five minutes or less in lengthand demonstrate how to handle the predators, how toprepare for introduction, how to introduce them to thecrop and how to assess their activity and success.Growers and managers are being asked to encouragetheir staff to view these videos before using any of thesepredators.

Scott Raffle would welcome growers’ views on howuseful they prove to be as there may be a call forproducing more training videos on biocontrol and other

topics in future.HDC soft fruit panel member Salih Hodzhov of W.B.

Chambers & Son in Kent thinks that they will be extremelyhelpful when he comes to introducing predators thiscoming season. “I think that it is particularly good thatthey are available on the HDC website as this will allow mystaff to watch out for them in the field immediately beforehandling them and introducing them. I hope that it will alsostimulate them to take more interest in the job that theyare doing for us”.

The videos are available for viewing in all languages onthe soft fruit page of the HDC website under the‘Biocontrol videos’ link at: www.hdc.org.uk/biocontrol-videos.

New soft fruit biocontrol training videosgo live on HDC’s website

Desiccant grantedEAMU for use on hops

Certis’ desiccant product, Quickdown (pyraflufen-ethyl)has been granted an ‘Extension of Authorisation for MinorUse’ (EAMU) to allow applications to be made on hops.

Peter Glendinning of British Hops says that this is a veryimportant development for the industry. “The worldwidetrade of British hops demands that plant protectionproducts comply with individual country requirements andprotocols, such as maximum residue level (MRL). Thisplaces added challenges when choosing desiccantproducts in particular. Quickdown provides a fast and veryeffective way to control spring shoot growth, whichsignificantly reduces pest and disease pressure.”

The label states that for application on hops the maximumindividual dose is 320ml/ha. Growers can make twoapplications per crop providing the maximum total dose of640ml/ha/crop isn’t exceeded. Growers should testQuickdown first on a small area of the crop to satisfythemselves regarding crop safety on the varieties requiringtreatment.

Disclaimer: This extension of the authorised use providesfor the use of Quickdown in respect of crops and situationsother than those included on the product label. No efficacyor phytotoxicity data have been assessed and as such the‘extension of use’ is at all times done at the user’schoosing, and the commercial risk is entirely theirs.

Growers should also obtain a copy of the notice ofapproval via the CRD website www.pesticides.gov.uk. Formore information please contact the Certis technical hotlineon 0845 3730305.


11F N e w s F


Dr Mike Solomon received the WorshipfulCompany of Fruiterers triennial Ridley Medal for“Distinguished Services to the Fruit Industry” atthe Company’s Annual Banquet at London’sMansion House on 27 February 2014, with theLord Mayor in attendance.

Presenting the Award, the Company’s newMaster, Mr Peter Cooper said, “Dr Mike Solomonis a world-respected research entomologist,innovator, expert communicator and leader of afruit research community which delivers practicalsolutions to the challenges faced by the fruitindustry. His meticulous approach and detailedresearch led him to become a pioneer of thebiological control of crop pests”.

Mike’s research identified and established theuse of natural enemies of orchard pests, some ofwhich, mites and pear sucker in particular, hadbecome resistant to chemical control. Ifuncontrolled these pests cause enormousdamage to crops and prejudice fruit production in the UK.Mike’s research on mite management and the orchard’snatural environment transformed fruit production to such anextent that today growers seldom have a problem with thesepests.

Mike’s scientific leadership and innovative style wererecognised by his appointment as Head of Site at EastMalling, and then as Science Director, until his first retirementin 2006. It was during this latter period, when DEFRAdrastically reduced its funding for horticultural research, thatMike, working closely with the East Malling Trust, ensured thecontinued existence of fruit research in Kent. In 2009 Mike

N P Seymour Ltd has announced that a new member ofstaff has joined the business - Martin Fordham has beenappointed as its new sales representative. This strengthensthe sales department that supplies the fruit and vine industrywith machinery and equipment. Martin has gained over 20years of experience working for machinery dealers in severalpositions; and working in the machinery industry for a longperiod of time has given him a good understanding ofcustomer requirements. Martin comes from a farmingbackground in Sussex, from where his passion for machinerycame. He is married with two children and enjoys spendingtime with his family, with some air rifle shooting in his sparetime.

New face at N P Seymour Ltd

returned to East Malling Research as Chief Executive and, incollaboration with the East Malling Trust, undertook a majorreorganisation of the institute over a period of two years.

Mike has published articles in international scientificliterature, books and the popular press, given many keynotespeeches at international conferences, frequently addressedgrower groups and used radio and television to promote thework of East Malling.

The Master concluded by saying, “Dr Mike Solomon’scontribution to fruit production, the industry and thecontinuance of UK fruit research has been outstanding. He isa most worthy recipient of the Worshipful Company ofFruiterers Ridley Medal”.

Worshipful Company of Fruiterers Ridley Medalpresented to Dr Mike Solomon


12 F N e w s F


The recent Great Bramley Bake In, which the BramleyCampaign held in partnership with BBC Good Food.comhas attracted a huge number of hits to the BBC website(competition button – 1,974,581 impressions). Thecompetition was launched in December and entrants andvoters had until the end of February to participate. Thejudging panel, which included celebrity chef Phil Vickery whohas developed six recipes of his own to showcase Bramley,shortlisted six potential winners in early March and then thepublic was asked to vote for their favourite from 14-23March via the BBC Good Food website.

The winner, with 40% of the votes, was Mary Graham fromNewcastle with a Bramley, Parsnip and Shropshire Blue Tart.To find this and the other shortlisted recipes visitwww.bramleyapples.co.uk . All the judges were veryimpressed with the standard and variety of the recipes. PhilVickery, who is currently resident chef on ITV daytime showThis Morning has put all the recipes on his own website andhas been promoting Bramley via this and social media giving“fantastic coverage of Bramley”, according to Adrian Barlow.

Now that 62% of the population has a smartphone andthere are 11 million Twitter users in the UK, it is notsurprising that the Bramley Campaign is using this form ofsocial media. A Twitter Party was held on 4 February topublicise Bramleys and a new film “How to Bake a Bramley”

is showing on YouTube. This was a fantastic success as#BramleyApples was soon trending at the no. 1 non-promotional spot on Twitter. In the first week the YouTubefilm received over 11,500 views, showing the power of socialmedia.

Regaining shelf space, and manufacturer and processorconfidence, in Bramley is vital after two years of low stocks,so this means that the Bramley Campaign is doingeverything to encourage sales and maintain the pressure onretailers and the trade. The Brammy Awards will be back thisJuly and there will be a full press briefing in May on all thingsBramley to catch the long lead-time consumer magazineswhich will be on the news-stands from September.

Concerns about the dessert apple situation were turnedaround in January 2014 when sales to all multiples were35% higher than in 2013, 23% higher than in 2012 and 45%higher than in 2011. This followed very strong promotionalactivity for a limited period and with a clear target. Therecovery in January was necessary to achieve a balance andensure that stocks and length of time for sales were back ontrack after the weak sales for all apples, not just English, inNovember and December. Stocks of Cox are projected tolast until mid-April, and Gala, and possibly Braeburn, will lastuntil the beginning of May, although this is difficult to predictas some groups have already sold all their fruit.

English Apples and Pears – Bramley campaign

New chairman announced for NFU Horticultureand Potatoes Board

Yorkshire vegetable grower Guy Poskitt has been elected asthe new chairman of the NFU national horticulture andpotatoes board.

Mr Poskitt is replacing Sarah Dawson, who has steppeddown after five years as chairman. He was named FarmersWeekly Farmer of the Year in 2012 and produces more than50,000 tonnes of carrots each year, as well as various othercrops such as pumpkins, potatoes, swedes and parsnips. “Iam looking forward to taking on the role as chairman and withit the many challenges facing the country’s growers; fromensuring the industry can adapt in a post-SAWS world tochanges that will affect us as a result of reforms to the CAP. Iwould like to take this opportunity to thank Sarah Dawson forthe great work she has done on behalf of the industry in herfive years as chairman,” said Mr Poskitt.

Mrs Dawson said: “I’ve thoroughly enjoyed working with theboard to obtain the best possible outcomes for the industry,over issues such as European regulations on pesticides,residues, approvals, nitrates and reform of the CommonAgricultural Policy. The launch of Catalyst for Change and therecent announcement by Tesco to extend its direct

relationships andcontracts work intofresh produce is areally great outcomeand a hugeachievement for theNFU. I leave the Boardand the NFUHorticulture and Potatoteam in a strongposition and would liketo wish the newlyelected chairman everysuccess. The time isright for fresh eyes,expertise andenthusiasm, to take the industry forward.”

Soft fruit grower Anthony Snell has stepped down as vice-chairman, but remains the soft fruit representative on theboard. A replacement vice-chairman is due to be elected inMay.


13F N e w s F


Three soft fruit growers from across the county of Kentcelebrated as winners at The Taste of Kent Awards 2014dinner held at the Kent County Showground on 13 March.

The category, Garden of England Champion Cherry andSoft Fruit, sponsored by East Malling Research (EMR), hadwinners for the three main soft fruit crops:

• Cherries - Elverton Farms, Faversham for their Merchantvariety

• Strawberries - Langdon Manor Farm, Faversham for theirJubilee variety

• Raspberries - Newmafruit, Chartham, for their Glen Amplevariety

Prof Peter Gregory, Chief Executive at EMR commented,“Each of these three winners should be congratulated fordoing something very special indeed. Fruit production is verymuch a high-tech part of British agriculture, with managementand attention to detail needed to cover everything fromvarietal choice and the efficient use of nutrients, through tolooking after the fruit once it’s been harvested. All threewinners have excelled in delivering what the consumerwants.”

The winners were selected by an expert panel of judgesfrom three finalists who were shortlisted for each awardcategory. The shortlisted finalists received the most votes ineach award category and had been nominated and voted forby members of the public.

Stephanie Durling of Produced in Kent comments: “Wewould like to thank the thousands of people who took thetime to vote in this, our tenth year. We are especially delightedthat nearly 500 local businesses across the county werenominated for the awards. The battle for first place amongstthe finalists was hard, with a really tough decision for ourjudges”.

Soft fruit excellence celebrated at The Taste of Kent Awards

New contract sees Ribena’s blackcurrants still pressed in SomersetA new three year contract has been signed between

Lucozade Ribena Suntory and Thatchers Cider that will see allthe blackcurrants grown for Ribena in the UK pressed atThatchers’ mill in Somerset.

Thatchers have been pressing the blackcurrants for Ribenafor the last 17 years, and this new agreement marks thecontinuation of the partnership with the iconic brand. TheRibena and Lucozade brands became a part of Japanese-based global soft drink company, Suntory Global Beverageand Food Limited, on 1 January.

James Wickham, Head of Blackcurrant Procurement forLucozade Ribena Suntory, commented, “Last year we presseda record breaking 13,000 tonnes of blackcurrants at Thatchersmill at Myrtle Farm, Sandford, Somerset. Our two companieshave had a long and successful partnership and, as theRibena brand moves into a new era, I am delighted that we

will move forward together.”All of the blackcurrants grown by Ribena’s growers in the

UK are pressed at Myrtle Farm within 24 hours of harvest inJuly each year, before being sent to Ribena’s plant in Coleford,in the Forest of Dean. The growers work closely with theRibena and Thatchers teams to ensure a smooth andintegrated supply chain which results in the best qualityblackcurrant juice for Ribena.

Thatchers Managing Director, Martin Thatcher, adds,“Ribena’s ethos of producing the highest quality juice fromtheir fruit matches the approach we have always taken withour own apples. The principles are the same. This has led to amutually beneficial partnership and a deep recognition of eachother’s values. We’re delighted that we are able to continueworking with the Ribena brand – we’re all looking forward tobusiness as usual this harvest.”


14 F N a t i o n a l F r u i t S h o w A G M F


Addressing the Marden Fruit Show Society AGM,President Michael Jack congratulated A. C.Goatham and Son on their award as Top Fruit

Grower of the Year and overall Grower of the Year at therecent Grower of the Year Awards. He also paid tribute toSue Daly and David Burd, who had both sadly died duringthe past year, for their contribution to judging at the

National FruitShow overmany years.Judging andmaintainingthe quality ofcompetitionfruit wascentral to theShow’ssuccess. Itwas the‘wow’ factorat the Show,he said, whichprovided acrucialelement,showingwhat’s best in

British fruit production. That factor had been lost in muchof retailing and he presented a challenge to all multiple

retailers to workwith the industryto get the ‘wow’factor back intothe selling of fruit.

Despite thechallenges theweather andalterations at theShow site hadbrought in 2013,the National FruitShow had a feelof optimism andof an industrygoing forward.Michael Jackpraised the fruitindustry for theway in which it is

continuing toinvest in newplantings, fruitstorage and, insome cases,precision growingtechniques. Hesaid the‘enjoyment ofgrowing’ waswhat got mostgrowers up in themorning, but thatfinancialpressures keptthem awake atnight. He did notwant to seeprimarysuppliers, suchas fruit growers, who do everything right, being made topay the price of what appears to be a forthcoming price waramongst major retailers. If they wished to fund their warfrom their own margins and shareholders’ funds that maybe an appropriate business strategy, but simply to pass itdown the line to their suppliers was not right.

In her comments on the National Fruit Show, SocietyChairman Sarah Calcutt recalled that rain and fun stood outfor her during the 2013 Show. Rain, as October saw thestart of the winter deluge, causing problems in the exhibitionareas, and fun,as exhibitorsintroduced newelements to theirdisplays. Shethanked all theShow’ssponsors fortheir invaluablesupport over theyear whichenabled theoffice to runthroughout theyear in supportof the NationalFruit Show andthe Society.Sponsors also

National Fruit Show goes from strength to strengthDr David Pennell reports from the Marden Fruit Show Society AGM


15F N a t i o n a l F r u i t S h o w A G M F


supported the Show dinner which had been enlarged tocope with demand and which will be a feature of the 2014Show.

Sarah announced that the 2014 National Fruit Show willbe held on 15 & 16 October in the new building now underconstruction at the Kent Showground, which will bring allthe exhibitors together around a central display of thecompetition fruit. Also for 2014, the seminar programme willfocus on the development needs of fruit growers and willqualify for BASIS or NRoSO points. There would again be aone metre square free-of-charge exhibition area forinnovations, for growers, suppliers or nurseries to promotenew introductions using literature, of which Sarahencouraged the industry to make full use. She also said thatfurther sponsorship was being sought for the Society’seducation programme,which had beensuccessfully begun by SamSmith, in order to broadenits reach throughout theSouth East.

2014 Bonanza Prize Details of the 2014

National Fruit ShowBonanza Prize wereannounced at the AGM.This will be sponsored by JR Breach, DL Valois andDesindo.

Outlining the prize, PeterBreach of J.R. Breach saidthat the winner wouldreceive 1000 apple treessupplied by French nursery,

DL Valois and selected from a range of varieties on theirnursery list, together with 1000 stakes from Belgian supplierDesindo and capped by travel vouchers worth £1000covering travel, accommodation and meals, enabling thewinner to go to France and Belgium to choose trees andstakes. The visit must be made by 15 October 2015 withtrees and stakes being delivered in the autumn of 2015. Thefirst 25 runners-up will receive prizes of champagne andBelgian chocolates. John Breach said that the sponsorswere delighted to support the National Fruit Show andhoped the Bonzana Prize would encourage more growersto enter fruit at the Show. ◆

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16 F L o n g Te r m S t o r a g e F


Reviewing the storage season for the 2013 apple andpear crop at the EMRA Top Fruit Storage Day, DrMartin Luton of Fruition Qualytech reminded the

audience that lower-than-average rainfall occurred in Juneand July, whilst rainfall in October was way above the long-term average and was associated with lower-than-averagesunshine hours. Minimum temperatures early in the seasoncoincided with pear blossom and frost hit some orchardsquite badly, limiting crop volumes.

The Cox harvest was reported as being higher than 2012 at26.7 tonnes/ha compared to 16.6 tonnes/ha, produced from1,543ha, lower than last season by some 18 per cent, giving atotal harvest of 41,198 tonnes, significantly higher than lastseason. Fruit size was reasonable, achieving, on average,65mm on 19 September, but was quite variable, rangingbetween 58mm and 69mm within orchards. Red colourdeveloped slowly in August and background colour wasgenerally pale. Mineral analysis showed average fruit calciumat 7.8mg with a range of 7.1mg to 8.9mg, well above theminimum required for long term storage of 4.5mg. Averagephosphorus was good at 14.8mg with a small range of13.9mg to 17.0mg, which were all above the minimumrecommended levels, whilst potassium in fruit at 150mg wasin the middle of the recommended range for long-termstorage. The predicted risk of low temperature breakdown andcore flush at harvest were both low. Skin finish in Cox was, onthe whole, very good.

Quality Fruit Group data for Cox in the run-up to harvestshowed fruit sugars lagging behind previous seasons reaching12 per cent around 19 September with fruit firmness at about9kg on the same date. Starch levels started to fall later thanprevious years reaching 80 per cent around 19 September.Sampling from store indicated that netted samples of fruitwere very similar to fruit in bins and, whilst average fruitfirmness was good and remained so from October to

February, therewas a large rangein October (6.5kgto 11.0kg) andwithin latersamples (6.9kg to10.2kg) reflectingthe range of fruitsetting dates. Rotshave been verylow in store and nointernal issueshave been seen todate in Cox.

The area of Galagrown in 2013 sawa large rise of 33per cent to 1497hafrom 2012 producing a yield of 28.09 tonnes/ha, which wasslightly lower than last season and giving a total crop of43,263 tonnes, which was similar to the previous season. Fruittended to have a light yellow background colour and poor redcolour which developed slowly, even on exposed fruits. QualityFruit Group data for Gala showed fruit size building later thanprevious seasons with sugars reaching 11 per cent by about21 September and firmness to just over 9kg by 26 September.Gala fruit for long-term storage should be picked with an 80-90 per cent starch pattern and in 2013 the earliest sitesreached 90 per cent on 19 September with an average starchpattern of 90 per cent reached on 25 September. Sugars willdevelop in store for Gala which is stored at 0.5C and Galapicked as recommended did not develop greasiness and rotlevels were very low. Fruit firmness has remained high in-storeat around 8.3-8.4kg. One rarely seen problem, skin necrosis,did develop, at levels up to 20 per cent in affected crops. It

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has previously been seen in very late picked fruit stored in air,but has now been found in a CA store. No differences inmineral composition of fruit were found in affected samplesand it appears to be orchard specific, but an exact explanationis difficult to find.

The production area of Braeburn continues to grow and wasreported to have reached 533ha in 2013, producing anaverage yield of 36.4 tonnes/ha and a total crop 62 per centhigher than 2012. For long term storage, picking at 60 to 70per cent starch is recommended and 70 per cent wasreached on the earliest sites on 8 October and average siteson 14 October. Average fruit size ranged from 65mm to73mm, a good distribution for marketing the variety. Fruitfirmness ranged from 8.8kg to 10.9kg with sugars between9.9 per cent and 12.2 per cent. Braeburn Browning Disorder(BBD) has not been seen at harvest which Dr Luton attributedto slightly softer fruit this season and generally lower rainfallcompared to last season’s relatively high incidence of BBD.

The area of Egremont Russet continues its slow decline,now standing at 211ha, and produced a reported averageyield of 18.2 tonnes/ha this year. Although skin finish is good,fruit size was generally small. Fruit firmness is holding up wellin-store averaging 9kg in February.

Bramley for storage from the 2013 crop generally had goodmineral analysis with good size and skin finish. Averagecalcium levels were 6.4mg, well above the 4.5mg levelrecommended for long-term storage, but variable, rangingfrom 4.4mg to 8.9mg. Phosphorus was also very variable,from 9mg to 11.6mg, but averaging 10.6mg, well above the9mg minimum level required, and fruit potassium levelsaveraged 115mg. The seasonal risk of low temperaturebreakdown was slight, but scald risk was predicted to be highdue to low rainfall in July. In CA storage most Bramley showedno signs of bitter pit, but air stored samples had a low level.

Skin finish in Conference was generally good in 2013 withaverage fruit size of 64mm and ranging from 51mm to 66mm.The overall crop was estimated to have been 20,972 tonnes,6% lower than the previous season with yields averaging 16.5tonnes/ha. In Quality Fruit Group sampling the Strief Indexdropped below 1 around 19 September with recommendedpicking for long-term storage being a Strief Index of 1 to 0.7.Conference fruits took four to five days to reach ‘eatingripeness’ each month out of store. Very low levels of shrivelhave been found, largely due to the widespread use of plasticbin covers. No internal disorders have been found in fruit andvery few rots. ◆

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NATIONAL FRUIT SHOW LONG TERM FARM STORED

COMPETITION

2014 PRIZEWINNERSCLASS 22 - GALA

The prize money for this class is sponsored by ICA Ltd which also presents a prize for the winner.

1st: Loddington Farms Ltd, Loddington Lane, Linton, Maidstone, Kent.

Landseer Prize presented to the store operator

Joint 2nd: Newmafruit Farms Ltd, Howfield Farm, Howfield Lane, Chartham, Kent

and F W Mansfield & Son, Nickle Farm, Chartham, Canterbury, Kent.

CLASS 23 – BRAMLEY

The prize money for this class is sponsored by ICA Ltd which also presents a prize for the winner.

1st: Newmafruit Farms Ltd, Howfield Farm, Howfield Lane, Chartham, Canterbury, Kent.

Presented with the John Wills Award plus the ICA Prize


Joint 2nd: Loddington Farms Ltd, Loddington Lane, Linton, Maidstone, Kent.

and J L Baxter & Sons, Amsbury Farm, East Street, Hunton, Maidstone, Kent.

CLASS 24 - ANY OTHER VARIETY DESSERT APPLE

The prize money for this class is sponsored by STS Ltd, which also presents a prize for the

winner.

1st: J L Baxter & Sons, Amsbury Farm, East Street, Hunton, Maidstone, Kent.


2nd: J L Baxter & Sons, Amsbury Farm, East Street, Hunton, Maidstone, Kent.

3rd: F W Mansfield & Son, Nickle Farm, Chartham, Canterbury, Kent.

CLASS 25 - COX

The prize money for this class is sponsored by STS Ltd, which also presents a prize for the

winner. The Trophy is presented by Marks and Spencer.

1st: Newmafruit Farms Ltd, Howfield Farm, Howfield Lane, Chartham, Canterbury, Kent.

Presented with the Marks & Spencer Trophy plus the STS Prize


2nd: Loddington Farms Ltd, Loddington Lane, Linton, Maidstone, Kent.

Joint 3rd: Ross Browning, Moatlands Farm Ltd, Claybrook Farm, Pembury, Kent

and Simon Bray, Monks Farm, Norton Road, Norton, Sittingbourne, Kent.

CLASS 26 – PEARS

The prize money for this class is sponsored by Scorpion Engineering Construction Ltd, which

also presents a prize for the winner.

1st: J L Baxter & Son, Amsbury Farm, East Street, Hunton, Maidstone, Kent.


2nd: Newmafruit Farms Ltd, Howfield Farm, Howfield Lane, Chartham, Canterbury, Kent.

Ron Tassell Trophy for the store operator of the Best All Round Exhibit

Joint Winners: Jeremy Lendon and David Gosling




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The attraction of extremely low oxygen CA in terms ofimproved storage and in Bramley scald control havebeen known for many years, following work at East

Malling Research; but there are considerable risksassociated with reducing oxygen to lower than 1% as fruitcomes under increasing stress and this has prevented theupdating of this approach to storage until recently. It wasshown that, in Bramley, taking oxygen levels down to 0.4%maintained firmness and gave control of scab.

Dr Debbie Rees of the Natural Resources Institute (NRI)outlined more recent work in Italy that has indicated thatoxygen levels down to 0.6% could control Braeburn BrowningDisorder. With concerns over flavour in long-term-stored Gala,there is interest in using low oxygen to retain these volatilesand work, also in Italy, on Pinova, demonstrated that volatileswere higher in very low oxygen than at higher levels andtreated with SmartFresh.

She explained the basis of the dynamic control of storesoperating at extremely low oxygen levels at the EMRA TopFruit Storage Day and defined ‘dynamic storage’ as combiningextreme low oxygen regimes with the technology to detectfruit stress. The theory behind this technology is based on thephysiology of the fruit and three main approaches haveemerged, based on respiratory quotient (the amount of CO2produced and O2 consumed), ethanol synthesis andchlorophyll fluorescence. All react to the level at which fruitsbecome anaerobic in response to declining oxygenconcentrations.

Dr Rees reported that commercial products are beingdeveloped based on all three physiological processes. Isolcellhave developed a Dynamic Storage system based onchlorophyll fluorescence with researcher Dr. Angelo Zanella ofthe Agricultural Research Institute in Laimburg, Italy. After itscautious introduction in 2003 in South Tyrol, Italy, more than

800 systems are now operating, half of which are in Italy. Thesystem uses samples of fruit in ‘kennels’ within the store tocollect readings from which the computer control generates analarm when danger points are reached.

The Storex system is based on ethanol production in fruitand uses chambers with sample fruits to generatemeasurements of ethanol to compute the danger threshold asfruit responds to reduced oxygen levels in-store. Some time isneeded to allow the measurements of ethanol to be made.

Two systems are making use of respiratory quotient bymeasuring CO2 and O2 in stores. The VanAmerongen/AgroFresh system measures gases in the wholestore to trigger action when danger points are reached. Incontrast ICA passes the storage air through a ‘Safepod’ tomeasure the CO2 and 02.

As with any emerging development in technology, newquestions are raised which need to be addressed in order touse the system most efficiently. Debbie Rees said that harvestmaturity criteria may need to be modified for Dynamic Storageand where the system relies on a sample of fruit the correctsampling technique would need to be confirmed. With moreaccurate controls the safe operating margins would need tobe defined for each variety and the way in which CAconditions are established may need to be modified.

There was also the question of how to make best use ofSmartFresh in the new systems as she felt it could still have auseful role in post-harvest management of fruit. In answer to aquestion from the audience at the EMRA Storage Day shesaid that the available information suggested that storescapable of running 5:1 regimes would be suitable for DynamicStorage. ◆

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After the wettest winter in almost 250 years, what impactwill be seen on tree health, root death and canker? Willthere have been sufficient winter-chilling for normal crop

development or will pollination be a problem? Will weatherhave affected pollinating insects and predators? Charles

emphasised that the numberof active ingredientsavailable for crop protectionwill diminish dramaticallyover the next few years andthere will be pressure to useexisting products moreefficiently and to broadenthe use of biological andother approaches to thecontrol of pests anddisease.

According to Charles,Agrovista is exploring links inEurope and North America tobring to the UK best practiceideas and to continue todevelop precision agronomy

in food crops. The company aims to include biological controlmethods, nutrition and information management within its adviceoffer to growers in 2014.

PACE Growers attending the

seminar were introduced byProf. Jerry Cross to anupdated version (version 4) ofthe Pesticide Adjustment tothe Crop Environment (PACE)software, which is nowavailable online atwww.pace.pjwrc.co.uk/. Theconcept is also covered inthe Apple Best PracticeGuide, which is available onthe HDC website(www.hdc.org.uk). The modelallows for easy calculation in

canopy assessments and enables a record to be kept. During 2012 and 2013 Jerry Cross had carried out trials with

the system on seven farms. The costs of spray programmes oneach farm varied from £623/ha to £1230/ha. The saving madethrough the use of PACE was calculated at £80/ha to £446/haand actual savings of £68/ha to £574/ha were achieved.

Potential canker crisisPaul Bennett of Agrovista, speaking at the seminar, said that

canker is increasing in orchards, with many of the modernvarieties being particularly prone to infection, most notably Galaand its clones, and with Gala being a parent of many newervarieties, it’s not surprising that canker susceptibility has beeninherited by many. With optimum infection conditions of 0C to16C and six hours of wetness, weather conditions over the last12 months, with rainfall and relatively high temperatures, are

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Agrovista Spring Fruit SeminarDr David Pennell reportsThe Agrovista Spring Fruit Seminar, held at Brands Hatch in Kent, has a knack of highlighting crucialissues for growers in the coming season. In his introduction to the day Agrovista’s Charles Coslett raisedmany weather-related questions which have undoubtedly gone through most fruit grower’s minds.


24 F S p r i n g Te c h n i c a l S e m i n a r F


likely to have encouraged infection. The risk is particularly high at budburst, blossom, fruit drop,

leaf drop, and during the summer and harvest whenever thereare wounds present. Hail, strong winds, frost and pest damage

are also capable ofcreating a woundthrough which infectioncan occur, as arepruning and fruitthinning.

Paul said thatexperience in organicorchards, where veryfew fungicides areapproved for use,indicated that frequentcopper sprays for scabresulted in orchardswhere canker was lessof a problem than inmany conventional

orchards. From Agrovista’s links in North America the company has

sourced a foliar fertiliser (42PhiCu) which appears to stimulateadditional growth and also the trees’ natural defences againstdisease. The feed is derived from phosphoric acid, ammonium

phosphite and copper phosphite. Paul suggested that this maybe a useful addition to spray programmes and may beparticularly useful in helping to control canker. He suggestsincluding 42PHiCu at green tip/green cluster then from full bloomto petal fall, and at fruit drop and again if any mid-season leaf falloccurs. His programme would start with copper at silver tip andgreen tip, Bellis and/or Switch at blossom and tebuconazolepost-harvest.

Mason Bees and aids to pollinationPollination of fruit crops has been receiving considerable

attention recently, partly as a result of problems with managedhoneybees and native bee populations. The fear is thatpollination may become a limiting factor in crop production. Thisbecomes crucial since intensive orchard growing systems mustachieve consistently high yields to justify the investment whichhas been made. Speaking at the seminar, Chris Whittles outlinedwork he has been doing to develop Red Mason bees as apollination system for crops in the UK.

The Red Mason bee (Osmia rufia) is a native of the UK andNorthern Europe, has a solitary habit, produces no honey andhas no sting, and whereas honeybees can travel some four milesfrom the hive, mason bees operate much closer to their nest,females about 30 metres, with males travelling a little further.They fly in lower temperatures than honeybees and are said tobe 120-200 times more efficient than either honeybees orbumblebees.

They can be damaged by insecticide use at critical times andrequire careful management to ensure that an effectivepopulation of mason bees is built up. At the end of each seasongrowers should ensure that nest tubes are removed and theoverwintering cocoons disinfected to reduce the risk of diseasesbuilding up before storage, ready for reintroduction the followingseason.

Chris Whittles has been involved with trials in apple, pear andcherry orchards and intunnel crops. In pears,yield increases, improvedgrade-outs, together withimproved fruit shape, sizeand uniformity have beennoted. He reported similareffects in apple, andincreases in storage lifeand reduced bitter pit inBramleys.

In cherries it is thoughtthat a 300% yield increasemay be possible and thatfruit retention is improved,with better size, uniformityand fruit colour. Therewere indications in cherry,

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he said, of improvements in shelf-life and reduced incidence offruit rots. Initial trials on strawberry, raspberry and blueberrycrops had given promising results. In all crops the great benefitof mason bees lies in helping to reduce the risk of crop failure.

At present the cost is being worked out, but it is likely to be afully managed system with an annual fee based on crop andlocality. Currently the main limitation to its use is the lowavailability of bees.

Boosting pollinationIn addition to boosting natural pollinators, Agrovista is

investigating ways in which the effectiveness of differentpollination methodscan be improved. Twoproducts are beingintroduced, Pollinusand Pollibuild, with theaid of helping toensure consistentcropping. Alex Cookeexplained that Pollinuscontains aromaticcompounds whichimitate beepheromones and

attract bees into theorchard to increase thelevel of activity andhence pollination. Intrials on pears inEurope, Pollinus wasapplied at 1.0 litre/haat 10% and 100%bloom and hives wereintroduced into bothtreated and untreatedareas and bothbumblebees andhoneybees werepresent at full bloom.Fruit set was higher intreated areas, 64%compared to 46%, and yield increased by 2.0 tonnes/ha. Asimple partial budget indicated that a benefit of some £2110/hahad been achieved.

Pollibuild, said Alex Radu, contained nutrients, organic acidsand peptides to aid fertilisation and fruit set. Its use was aimed atincreasing pollen hydration, pollen germination and growth of thepollen tube, in addition to encouraging bee foraging. In Canadiantrials on Braeburn an application of 2.5 litre/ha at first flower hadgiven increased set and fruit number, increased yield and an

Waterlogged orchards need a helping handThe recent long, wet winter, has left growers facing potential problems with their orchards. A combination ofhigh rainfall and waterlogged soils may have compromised root health, with root damage and die backbecoming an issue. These stressed roots are also vulnerable to attack by Phytophthora, especially in youngorchards.

The added problems of nutrient leaching and low tree reserves could leave many orchards stressed and weakened as the spring gets underway.

As crops begin the process of rapid spring growth, some orchards could find this process being hindered, especially if environmental stress factorscompound the problem. This could have a very detrimental effect on flowering and yield.

To help offset this stress and minimise its effects, growers can use a programme of Maxicrop seaweed extract to help get the tree back to a healthier status.Lower stress levels mean that there is more energy available for flowering and fruit set and to help fruit development later in the season.

The complex group of compounds found in Maxicrop can help various growth processes:

• Enhanced root development, helping nutrient uptake. When applied as a drench to young trees, this can have a big benefit on establishment andcan also stimulate beneficial soil microbes in the root zone.

• Leaf chlorophyll levels are increased, helping improve leaf health and function, maximising photosynthetic capacity.• By stimulating the tree’s natural defence mechanisms, growers can help the crop to cope with various stress factors such as drought, temperature

extremes, wind damage, phytotoxic shock from other chemicals, etc.

Independent trials and laboratory research have verified the Maxicrop effect in terms of crop health and yield. Byadopting a programmed approach, starting as soon as growth commences, growers can minimise the effects of stress,

helping to maintain yield, quality and margins.

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26 F S p r i n g Te c h n i c a l S e m i n a r F


increase in average fruit weight. Agrovista will be working with both of these products to

develop their use on UK crops with the objective of helping toensure consistent cropping.

RIMPro in the CloudThe RIMPro pest and disease prediction and management

decision support model has, over the last 20 years or so,become the European standard in helping growers time theircrop protection programmes to make the best use of theproducts that are available.

As he explained at the Agrovista Spring Fruit Seminar, MarcTrapman and his colleagues have been slowly but surelyimproving the model year after year, building in both growerexperience and the results of research from around the worldon the major pests and diseases as they have emerged. It isthis investment in constant improvement which has madeRIMPro so respected and useful. Since 2000 RIMPro has beenavailable over the internet and in 2008 it was integrated with aweather forecasting system, and from 2014 RIMPro will bebased in the Cloud allowing a much greater level of informationto be included and much more flexibility in programming.

A major improvement of the system is the incorporation offungicide details into the program, said Marc Trapman.Currently all active scab fungicides are included with their

characteristics, andthis interacts withthe weather recordswith ‘kick back’effects allowed for interms of degree-daycalculations, whichshould improveaccuracy.

In otherimprovements thefire-blight modelnow treats floweringas a successiveseries of eventsrather thanoccurring on oneoccasion, and takes advantage of research in Canada and theUSA, where researchers have collaborated with Marc Trapman.Recommendations are based on antagonists that must beapplied before infection periods are reached to achieve control.

Life after RonstarRonstar liquid has been a mainstay of the residual herbicide

programme in many orchards over recent years. Now theoptions are reduced, especially on younger trees. Paul Bennettoutlined some of the choices for weed control at the seminar.

Amongst residual herbicides Stomp Aqua (pendimethalin)has a slight risk of leaching and is moderately soluble, beingtaken up by roots and shoots. It inhibits cell division and,whilst seedlings can emerge, they will remain stunted. StompAqua can be applied before bud-burst with a four to fivemonth persistence. Flexidor 125 (isoxaben) and Kerb Flo(propyzamide) are available, with Flexidor offering four toseven months cover with a low risk of leaching. It can beapplied between 1 October and 31 March but its weaknessesare grasses, groundsel, mayweed, cleavers and blacknightshade. Kerb carries some risk of leaching and could beapplied up to 31 January and has four to five monthpersistence.

Paul suggested that Stomp Aqua and Flexidor plus anadjuvant, ground-applied at 1% to reduce drift, enhancedeposition and adsorption onto soil particles, was a goodoption. For the future he thought Chikara (flazasulfuron) andWing-P (dimethenamid-P + pendimethalin) may be possiblenew products. Contact herbicides would however remain avital part of weed control with Diquat, Harvest(glufosinate–ammonium) and Roundup (glyphosate) eachuseful, but Paul Bennett advised adding Companion Gold - asticking agent - at 0.5 litre/ha, as there was a risk of slightdamage to buds and green stems on younger trees fromdiquat and Harvest. Starane 2 and Weedazol, both of whichhave EAMU’s could be useful in older orchards but not inyounger ones. ◆

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27F A m o s M e m o r i a l L e c t u r e F


The recent biennial Amos Memorial Lecture, delivered byProfessor Peter Gregory, CEO of East Malling Research,marked the conclusion of EMR’s centenary celebrations.

Its theme comes full circle, back to EMR’s beginnings, byreusing the title of a speech given by Dr Dunstan, then Principalof Wye College, to persuade a group of growers at MaidstoneTown Hall in 1912 of the benefits of a fruit research centre inKent.

Peter Gregory focused on how innovations deriving from today’sscientific research and development will benefit the nextgeneration of growers, helping them to increase productionprofitably and sustainably, while facing the challenges of a morevariable and changing climate. As Professor of Global FoodSecurity at the University of Reading, Peter’s knowledge of thesubject produced a particularly well informed and thought-provoking view of the future facing fruit growers in the UK. Peterbriefly summarised what Dr Dunstan said and its consequences inrelation to EMR’s research priorities. He then talked about thecontext and content of some of our present research, beforeexploring some of the issues that he thinks will be important in thefuture.

Apparently Dr Dunstan’s 1912 lecture had a lot to say about theindividuality of the tree. We can easily forget that in those dayseach tree was an individual and this made orchards difficult tomanage; Dunstan also commented on the need to balance thegrowth of the tree and the growth of fruit. Diseases and newvarieties were also high up in the requirements of the industry.Interestingly, the first directors set to work on very local issues andthe connection with the industry was strong from the outset.These considerations led to the research on rootstocks whichresulted in the internationally famous Malling rootstocks, atechnology that is still benefiting apple growers around the world.

Present focusSkipping forward 90 years to the current research interests at

East Malling, there is a more global view. The publication in 2011of The Future of Food and Farming report demonstrated that theUK now has a focus on food and farming and EMR’s research onperennials fits with major areas of policy concern. It was gratifyingthat Universities and Science Minister David Willets MP chose EastMalling as the venue for the launch of the Government’sAgricultural Technologies Strategy in July 2013. With demand forfood rising rapidly worldwide, the strategy also aims to make theUK a world leader in addressing global food security issues.Identifying other changes, Peter considers that the demand forlocally produced food is significant and that it is a bonus thatconsumers are prepared to pay more for it. However, the

increasing urbanizationof our population sinceDunstan’s day meansthat people are notreally interested in thedetail of how their foodis produced.

Peter considers thatscientists need aconceptual frameworkin which to work and,for East Malling, this isthat production is aresult of interactionsbetween thegenotype, the environment and management. He demonstratedthis by showcasing some examples of current research. He toldhis audience that this is a truly exciting time to be a plant scientist,due to genomics. Being able to sequence the genome of our cropspecies and their relatives has given us so many moreopportunities to breed new varieties, by introducing pest anddisease resistance and other beneficial characteristics fromancestral close relatives.

A good example is in protecting strawberries from wilt, wherethe genome for the European wild strawberry Fragaria vesca isbeing used to help ensure that future varieties will have severalresistance genes – leading to stronger and more durableresistance. Rootstock breeding in future will be informed by anHDC-funded project to provide genomic sequence data forimportant apple accessions that are currently widely used at EMR.Results so far show that M9 is related to both Malus domesticaand Malus orientalis.

Although Peter admitted that predicting the future was a foolishthing to do, he considered that the challenges for future researchat EMR are:

• Increasing production sustainably and with low waste • Climate change and variability • Environmental control • Nutrition, health and novel fruits All these challenges are complicated issues which will require

research across multiple disciplines, together with the disciplinaryexpertise that we have classically deployed. The recentappointments of young scientists have been directed atstrengthening the move to multi-discipline teams.

What’s the limit for apple production?In Dr Dunstan’s original lecture he told his audience that what

The 58th Amos Memorial Lecture - “The scopeof scientific research in fruit growing”Joanna Wood reports


28 F A m o s M e m o r i a l L e c t u r e F


had been done to improve production for arable farmers, followingresearch at Rothamsted, could also be done for fruit growers. The‘buzz phrase’ now is ‘intensification of production sustainably andwith low waste’. For arable crops it is enough to capture themaximum light energy to produce dry matter. For horticulturalcrops things are not so simple, as not all of the harvestable crop ismarketable. We must aim for the highest possible percentage ofClass 1.

So what production should we be aiming for? Having a target toaim for makes sense for a research programme, just as for asports team. This is a topic that was researched in the 1970s, butPeter says that many of the skills required to answer this questionhave been lost from the UK. It is again a hot topic in arable cropresearch today, with a focus on the ‘yield gap’ - what are wemissing?

“Let’s explore some essential conceptual frameworks and seewhat we know”, said Peter. Growth of any crop is essentially amatter of intercepting solar energy and converting it to chemicalenergy in the crop. Apples are no different. Apple yields have beenshown to be proportional to the amount of radiation intercepted,but as the amount of partitioning towards fruit growth increases,so the size of apples decreases (back to Dunstan’s point aboutvegetative growth/fruit growth balance). Peter asks, “So what yieldof apples should we be aiming for?” Some recent work in NewZealand, where the light intensity is higher, showed that Braeburnand Fuji both allocated 70% of seasonal dry matter to fruit; at 90%

light interception this suggests that growers there could aim for160 tonnes/ha. Using all the data available and aiming for 90%interception of light, Peter speculates that in the UK we might aimfor about 110 tonnes/ha of apples. It may be that fruit walls willhelp us reach 90% light interception, but without reducing alleywidth this is unlikely. Certainly we need to refine our growingsystems and pruning to determine how much radiation we couldreliably intercept.

Climate change and variabilityOn average the climate at East Malling is 1.5C warmer than in

the 1960s and this is the case across England. To refute thosewho deny climate change, although the rate has slowed in the lastdecade, the climate is irrefutably warmer than 50 years ago. Thishas had effects on crop phenology, like advancing the floweringdates of many fruits by up to 14 days. For example the date of fullbloom for Egremont Russet at East Malling in the 1970s was 11May, now it is 22 April. This is a matter of concern, as the date ofthe last frost each year has not changed. Winters are also gettingwarmer and this has negative effects on perennial plants whichuse winter-chilling to reset their physiological clocks. The lack ofwinter-chilling can be overcome by breeding varieties with lowerchilling requirements, but this takes time. The warming climatealso makes it easier for some alien pests to become established -the spotted wing drosophila, for example.

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While long-term changes in climate are important for perennialcrops, weather is even more important in the short term. Manyprojections of future weather and climate are based on theassumption that only the mean will change but the variation willremain constant. Recent models from the Met Office Hadley Centre,projecting forward as far as 2080, suggest that this may not be thecase. Although winters may become wetter on average, the numberof winter droughts may also increase. Similarly, although summersmay be drier on average, the incidence of intense rainfall mayincrease. More extremes of weather are much more likely.

Analyses of global natural catastrophes over Peter’s lifetime (headmits to being born in the early 1950s) by the insurance industry,particularly the re-insurance industry (data from the largest firmMunich RE show the dramatic upward trend), demonstrate that thenumber and cost of claims due to earthquakes, tsunamis andvolcanic eruptions has stayed constant, but extreme weather andflooding events have increasing rapidly. More evidence of globalwarming can be seen in global heat maps, plotting hotter summersthan usual around the world over the last five decades and adramatic increase in the last few. Peter stated that something thatwas a ‘1 in 750 years’ event in the 1950s is now a ‘1 in 11 years’event – a phenomenal change!

One result of all this is that growers will increasingly look tocontrolling the growing environment. An example of this is themove to precision irrigation, and other examples include hailnets, polytunnels, glasshouses, artificial growing media and

controlled nutrition.

Nutrition, health and novel fruitsFinally, one of the reasons that we grow and eat fruit is the

benefits that it brings us nutritionally. However, there are someconcerns about what intensive production systems are doing tothe nutritional value of fruit. Increasingly, productivity can lead todecreases in mineral nutrient content and of vitamins. Calciumis a particular concern as over the last 50 years people havebeen drinking less milk and, over the same time period, calciumlevels in fruits, according to data from the USA, have halved, insome cases. Attention is also turning to flavonoids because oftheir effect on cardio-vascular function and on some types ofcancers. We know very little about the effects of variety andmanagement on the composition of fruits.

So what characteristics will fruit in the future need to have?Individual fruits do not satisfy an active, urban lifestyle.Convenience and speed are what consumers now value. Peterpredicts that fruits will increasingly have an ‘easy to throw away’wrapper, be ready to eat, sweet and juicy, have no pips orstones, and be of attractive appearance.

We are already on this path as, for instance, there has been a25% increase in the sugar content of table grapes over the last20 years. So could we not grow stoneless cherries in thefuture? ◆

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30 F C a m e o F a r m Wa l k F


An apple grower who was one of the first adopters ofthe apple variety Cameo is converting his orchard tothe fruit wall system after becoming disappointed with

the way it crops.Peter Beale, of Parsonage Farm, Brenchley, Kent, hopes that

the introduction of fruit walls will prevent his Woodside CottageOrchard from cropping biennially. Hopefully this, in turn, willmake the orchard more financially worthwhile.

Beale invited Cameo suppliers, agronomists and fellowgrowers to his farm on the chilly afternoon of 19 March towatch the orchard’s ‘conversion cut’, which saw the tree rowsnarrowed to the fruit wall specification. He admitted to thegroup that, while the variety sells and stores very well, he is notgetting the most out of the orchard’s 1,260 trees.

They were planted at a spacing of 4m x 1.2m on Pajam 2rootstock in December 2005 and have been croppingbiennially since their first recorded crop in 2007. Beale’srecords show that in 2009, for example, 66 bins of fruit werepicked – while the following year just 17 bins were picked. Hesaid: “I am not totally impressed with it because the trees cropheavily one year and then not the next year. But the bettergrowers of Cameo would argue that that’s just mymismanagement of the crop, so I’m hoping to give it anothergo.” The fruit wall system - which has been successfullyestablished in several English apple orchards during the pastfew years - boasts narrower trees to enable the formation of awall. This provides an ideal surface area on which the blossomcan be mechanically thinned.

Nigel Jenner of Norman Collett Ltd, a technical advisor for

Cameo growers in the UK, who was supervising the cut, said:“By mechanically pruning the orchard we are hoping toovercome its ‘bienniality’. We are trying to get a narrow wall sothat we can [later in the spring] use the Darwin blossomthinner. This improves the leaf:fruit ratio so that the subsequentfruit will be much better.” Jenner believes that an overset of

Kent Cameo grower aims to overcome biennial croppingRachel Anderson reports from the recent Cameo Farm Walk


31F C a m e o F a r m Wa l k F


fruit on weaker wood is the reason for the orchard’s biennialpattern. “If you can thin Cameo early that’s good for both itsfruit quality and for preventing its bienniality,” he said.

Woodside Cottage Orchard is made up of the originalCaudle clone, that growers have found does not colour up aseasily as the newer Cauflight clone, discovered at nearbyFlightshott Farm. Fiona Davidson, of Pépinières du Valoisnursery in France, is responsible for European Cameomarketing and for tree sales in the UK. She told growers at theCameo Farm Walk that the newer Cauflight clone is replacingCaundle.

Beale admitted that he was frustrated that the Caudlevariety didn’t colour very well and had been picking his fruitrelatively late – from mid-October. But Jenner warned Bealethat, as tempting as it can be, leaving the fruit on the treeaffects its cropping the following year.

“If you leave the fruit on the tree, waiting for colour, it willhave a massive impact on the fruit bud for the next year.”

The group of visiting growers watched fruit machineryspecialist Nick Seymour fire up the sizeable BMV FL800porchard trimmer, the sharp blades of which began tomechanically prune the orchard. Jenner explained to growersthat the bottoms of the trees were pruned to a width of 50cmeach side of the trunk while the tops of the trees had some40cm sliced off each side. He said: “Ideally we would gocloser than this, but as the trees are quite established we havegone slightly wider for this initial cut.” He added that the treeswere also going to need some hand pruning to fine-tune thework done by the machine. Jenner told the growers: “Onceyou start mechanically pruning you cannot totally get rid ofyour secateurs – you will need to carry out some intervention.But it’s a very simple job. You are just taking out the biggestbranches.”

Nigel Jenner also told growers that the conversion cut is

also likely to help eliminate cankerinfection. “Cameo is very susceptible tocanker – but the good thing is that youare doing the cut when you arespraying the fungicides and so theinfection should be a lot less.” Growerswere informed that another cut wouldbe made when the trees reach the six-to ten-leaf stage.

Nigel Bardsley, who grows some 8haof Cameo in Kent, reassured PeterBeale that the orchard has a lot ofpotential. He said: “It just needstitivating. It just needs a bit more light atthe top, a bit more taken out at thetop.”

Peter Beale also invited the group toview his Eight Acres Orchard, whichwas planted in 2010 and contains 1,850Cauflight trees at a spacing of 4.3m x

1.8m. He admitted that this other Cameo orchard is croppingsatisfactorily – although he is not entirely sure why. “Perhapswe have learned to grow these better,” he said. Jenner addedthat the light in the Cauflight orchard was “pretty good”. Bealesaid he was hoping to have a good Cauflight harvest of 90bins this year after picking 21 bins in 2013. ◆


32 F P Y O F


“PYO: Is it or is it not for you?” was the questionposed to delegates by Janet Allen, ADASHorticultural Consultant, who was presenting the

session: ‘PYO, The Farm Experience’ at Farm & More, the annualfarm diversification event which took place in Warwickshire inFebruary.

Overall, 2013 had been a very good year; with cold soil and latefrosts, there had been a late start to crop growth and harvestingbut good weather then prevailed until August. Some growers lostearly and main season June-bearing and everbearer strawberrycrops, with good consumer demand but insufficient fruit to meettheir needs. “Despite price cutting and special offers, demand forstrawberries and raspberries by multiples slumped in late-Juneand July. Large amounts of fruit were wasted,” she said; andpersistent rumours of raspberries valued at £1 million beingdumped were rife. Despite all these difficulties, there wasconsiderable interest in PYO, with many members of the publicvisiting sites to pick fruit until the early autumn, although pricesremained static.

There are still several relatively unsophisticated PYOs, not least

because labour is needed for other farm activities. Various siteshave increased the range of crops grown, with extended harvestperiods to cover as many crops as possible. Some sites havedeveloped other enterprises such as farm shops, plant sales,garden centres & Christmas trees, all running alongside PYO.

Some units grow crops for ready-picked sales, both on and offsite. This approach has created more complex productionsystems and scheduling, requiring improved crop and staffmanagement. “It therefore requires increased labour to grow,harvest and market crops,” said Janet.

With the aim of reducing crop loss and improving productionscheduling, whatever the weather, many growers are nowgrowing strawberries and raspberries under polytunnels. “Wheresuitable land is limited this can give increased yields and fruitquality, an extended harvest period and more than one crop ayear,” she said.

How is the cropping season extended?Cropping seasons have been extended with plantings of

different ages and using a range of varieties. The mainstrawberries varieties are Vibrant, Sonata, Fenella, Symphony,Florence and Malwina; and raspberries varieties include GlenClova, Glen Ample, Tadmor and Octavia. The use of June-bearingand everbearer strawberries, summer and primocane fruitingraspberries also lengthens the cropping season.

The season can be further extended by planting long cane GlenAmple or Octavia raspberries outdoors in April, and coveringthem with polytunnels at flowering onset for a July to mid-Augustharvest. This season extension can also be achieved by plantingGlen Ample in May, then covering with polythene at the onset offlowering in August. With Glen Ample planted in June, it iscovered at the onset of flowering in September or October.

Is this easily achieved?“Sadly, more sophistication increases the chance of things

going wrong, for example, the use of cold-stored long canesummer raspberries,” Janet said. Plants arriving should bewarmed up slowly and then planted in moist, warm soil orcompost. Roots needed to be spread out, ensuring that the basalaxillary buds of the canes are below the soil level. Plants must notbe allowed to dehydrate, particularly the roots. After planting,temperatures had to be kept low (5C to 10C for the first twoweeks, and then increased to 20C). Above this temperature,plants tended to become stressed. When root rot occurred it wasimportant to always drench with fungicide. For early plantingunder tunnels, covering with fleece immediately after planting wasrequired to protect against frost. Growers needed to vent and/orremove the fleece in bright or hot weather and check weekly from

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planting for pests, and keep the soil or substrate moist. “More crops are now being grown in substrates because of

soil-borne disease, pest & weed problems and the loss of mostsoil sterilants,” said Janet. There was a lack of suitable land forgrowing crops, mainly due to poor soil structure and inadequatedrainage, and high pH, for example with blueberries. The site

should ideally be close to water, power supplies and the farmshop. Most sites now have irrigation which was essential forprogrammed cropping and for crops grown in substrates. Watersupplies must be clean with a suitable pH and nutrient status.Many water supplies required acidification to lower the pH.

“It is 20% quicker to pick tabletop strawberries, which isimportant for the ready-picked fruit market,” Janet said. “You willrequire additional labour when growing in substrate as much workis done by hand. Also, expect and anticipate plantations to havea short life,” she explained.

Is there potential for new sites?“The answer is probably ‘yes and no’,” said Janet. Most

established PYO enterprises are successful because of theirlocation, frequently close to high population areas. Many arewithin easy travelling distance of major public attractions, and areoften linked to farm shops and other farm retail enterprises. Mostimportantly, they are near to and easy to reach by main roads.

“Successful PYO operators enjoy interacting with the public andmeeting a cross-section of people on their farm. However, noteveryone can cope with this, let alone tolerate the public being ontheir farm, and not all growers have the right personality for PYO.It is worth spending time and seeking advice at the outset toassess whether your personality is suited to the challenges anddemands of PYO, which is very much about being a ‘people’

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person,” she explained. You really needed to enjoy ongoinginteraction with other people.

The search to find the right site location, of sufficient size withappropriate soil, plus good road access and water for irrigation,could take some time. That ideal site needed buildings, or approvalto erect them, to house machinery, packaging, chemicals,fertilisers, picking baskets etc. Security was paramount andneeded to be high on the agenda. It made sense to involve thepolice early for security advice and suggestions. Planningpermission might be required for polythene structures. “If you canidentify good employees locally, and house them to assist ingrowing, harvesting and selling your fruit, that would helpenormously,” said Janet. “Sadly, it is very unlikely that you will find asite that does not have one, or more, of these key componentsmissing”.

CostsAnticipated costs for cold-stored 60-day strawberry plants -

planted in the open in early spring at 33,000 plants/ha - would beabout £11,000/ha. In the first year a yield of around 200g of fruitper plant (6600kg/ha) valued at £3.80/kg (£25,080/ha), gives agross margin of £14,080/ha. This excludes packaging, advertisingand sales costs. In the second, full-cropping year, costs would beprojected at £3000, with a yield of 400g/plant (13,200kg/ha) givinga revenue of £50,160/ha and a gross margin of £47,160/ha.

In the case of strawberries, it may not be possible to overwintercrops grown in substrates on tabletops and annual cropping maybe the only option. With tabletop production, more sophisticatedirrigation, fertigation and crop management equipment would berequired. There was less room for error with feeding and watering,and more handwork would be required with husbandry inputrequired for planting, runner control, weeding and de-leafing.

“Not all varieties are suitable for production in substrates, butyields can be better or the same as those of crops grown in soil.Tabletop crops are just as vulnerable to fruit loss in rain,” saidJanet.

Tabletops and polytunnels“Tunnels are very useful for extending the cropping season and

especially so where ready-picked fruit sales are key to profitability.For early crops you will need to install sides, doors and to coverthe crops with fleece,” Janet said. The use of substrates andpolytunnels was probably the most reliable way to produceeverbearers. Tunnels protect fruit from bad weather, but if it rainsPYO customers stay away and the business is simply markingtime and losing money with no income and high running costs.“The cost of Spanish tunnels works out around £27,000/ha. Yourequire sufficient labour to erect, clad and then remove the claddingto ventilate the tunnels and you need to thoroughly check whetherplanning permission is required to erect them,” concluded Janet. ◆

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35F C o m m e n t F


the EU are likely to make even more necessary the welldocumented supply of willing, well-behaved and motivatedyoung people which SAWS provided in the past. But if we areto be treated to other exhibitions of ignorance by politicians inministerial positions such as this, growers will need to adjusttheir forward planning to take this into account.

Of course, the arguments about immigration will become avery live issue during the 2015 general election, and theuncertainty which this is creating is not going to be helpful togrowers who are already planning ahead for 2015 andbeyond. There has always been a measure of uncertainty insoft fruit production, but this outburst from the FarmingMinister is rather worrying, especially if it represents thegovernment’s thinking on this issue.

At about the same time, Mr James Brokenshire MP, a HomeOffice minister, took the opportunity to say that many wealthytown-dwellers were employing immigrant domestic servantsand, by doing so, he revealed that he thinks this is what thiscontroversy is all about. If he had bothered to read the reporton the SAWS scheme, which was prepared by hisdepartment’s Migration Advisory Committee before it wasabolished, he might have understood that horticulturalbusinesses need seasonal workers, because one cannot growseasonal crops on an all-year-round basis. Understandably,seasonal work suits young immigrant workers, many of whomcome here to earn enough to pay for their tuition fees andthen go home to complete their degrees.

In my view, the best thing that employers of EU seasonalworkers can do is to continue to maintain detailed records oftheir workers’ earnings, including details of the hours theyworked. I believe that this would show that these people arenot employed because they are ‘cheap labour’ but becausethey work hard and, due to their reliability and work-ethic, theycan earn well above the minimum wage. ◆

Understanding the need for seasonal workers

When addressing the NFU Conference, Mr GeorgeEustice MP, who is said to be the ‘FarmingMinister’, was quoted as saying that “jobless

Britons should be made to pick fruit on farms or face havingtheir benefits taken away”. What a good idea! While we areabout it, why shouldn’t dairy farmers, who may beconcerned about the possibility of a milk ‘price war’between certain retailers, be told to stop complaining andget some new cows which produce twice as much milk andeat less food? That is about as impractical as Mr Eustice’sproposal and I hope that the response from the NFUmembers who were present at the Conference was as loudand furious as has been reported.

Many, or probably most, fruit growers already know aboutthe problems associated with trying to recruit and retain localseasonal workers via their local Job Centres which, whencoupled with the essential need to provide our retailers with areliable supply of good quality fruit, would result in a disaster.When I started soft fruit production in the 1950s, the biggestproblem was recruiting enough people to get one’s fruit pickedand it soon became apparent that this particular crop couldonly be grown on farms which were reasonably close to townsor large villages, from which we recruited housewives whowere able to come to work after they had seen their childrenoff to school.

We collected them in buses at 8.45am and took them homein time to collect their children after school. The youngerchildren came with their mothers and were looked after, in amakeshift play area on the headland, by people who werepaid to act as child-minders, but that arrangement came to anend when the Children Act came into force and the mindersneeded to be appropriately qualified and registered.

We delivered our fruit to the wholesale markets to be soldthe following morning and accepted whatever price the marketsalesmen had been able to achieve. If we had been selling ourfruit directly to supermarkets - which were only just starting toappear in those days - we would not have been able to meettheir requirement for fresh-picked fruit which is packed anddelivered to their depots in time for distribution to their retailoutlets. The ability to recruit and retain seasonal workers wasthe main restriction on the amount of soft fruit which a growerwas able to produce. It was easier to employ top fruit pickersand I remember employing members of the ‘travellingcommunity’ and off-duty policemen and to pick our Bramleyapples, which had the advantage of ensuring good behaviourfrom all concerned.

I have already written about the abolition of the SAWS,which will result in the unfortunate loss of a well-managed andeffective scheme, just at the time when developments within

A comment from Hugh Lowe

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36 F A p p l e T h i n n i n g F


Achieving good yields whilst increasing the overallpremium size grading for apples cost-effectively, mustsurely be important objectives for most commercial

growers. One way to achieve these objectives and get thebest returns is to thin the crop at flowering, so that as manysingle fruits as possible are produced.

Hutchinsons Horticultural Technical Manager, Dr. JonathanBlackman, explains that growers have the option to achievethis through hand-thinning, although this has become veryexpensive. Growers want to reduce this expense or avoid italtogether, he says.

He wanted to have a closer look at chemical thinning, inparticular with MaxCel, containing 6-benzyladenine, the onlyapproved active ingredient registered for this purpose in theUK. He explains that MaxCel is a cytokinin-type plant growthregulator. “This group of plant hormones affects a number ofprocesses in plants including apical dominance, axillary budgrowth, cell division and growth. The product prevents fruitlets

below a certain size from developing further, whilst fruitletsabove a certain size will successfully grow on. Consequentlyhand-thinning costs can be reduced.”

A field-scale trial was assessed last season on Aston FruitFarm, near Newent in Gloucestershire. “The orchard was aproductive five-year-old Braeburn orchard which was part-treated with Maxcel when the king fruit was at 10mm. Theassessment compared the treated area with the untreated,with 23 trees being assessed in each row and apples beingclassed as singles, doubles, triples etc. Ideally we were lookingfor a positive shift to more single fruits which are more likely tobe the right size and quality for the market. The results turnedout to be interesting.”

Jonathan reports that Maxcel increased the number of singlefruits and reduced multiple fruiting sets. “In fact the Maxceltreated area doubled the single fruits and halved the doubles.Triples were very low in the treated area. So, just what we werelooking for!” Jonathan is impressed with the results, but points

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Increasing singles in apples bears fruit


37F A p p l e T h i n n i n g F


out that application conditions need to be spot on for thisproduct. “Technically it is not the easiest product to apply, butwhen you get the conditions right, it will deliver.”

MaxCel is recommended for application when the king fruitlethas a diameter of 7-15mm, with the optimum range being 10-12mm. It should be applied at the start of a warm period whenthe maximum daily temperatures for the two to three daysfollowing application are expected to be at least 15-18°C. Itshould not be applied when temperatures are below 15°C.“Getting the temperature right is, in my view, the most criticalcriteria and sometimes we can be on the margins. You need tohit the suitable temperature, and temperatures need to berising. This is not always easy but is worth waiting for. I thinkthat getting the temperature parameters right is more importantthan anything else.”

Dr. Blackman has observed that MaxCel works very well onmany varieties includingBraeburn but other varietiessuch as Gala prove to bemore challenging. “In suchvarieties a combination ofmechanical thinning andMaxCel works well. However,even with Gala, if no thinningeffect can be measured, youstill get an increase in fruitsize and getting bigger fruitand more apples in the nextgrade up is important.”

Stewart Woodhead,Technical Manager forInterfarm, the suppliers ofMaxCel, outlines therecommendations. “MaxCel isrecommended on all varietiesof apples at dose rates of

3.75 to 7.5 litres/ha. Thedose rate variesaccording to how easyor hard the variety is tothin and also the cropload. It is a solubleconcentrate, ready forthe grower to use and isunique in requiring noadditional adjuvants. It isimportant to ensureadequate coverage offruit and foliage withoutexcessive run-off, withwater volumes being adjusted according to tree size andspacing. Water volumes of 1000 litres/ha in air-assistedsprayers will give adequate coverage of fruitlets and foliage. Itis fully compatible with IPM programmes.”

Stewart says that MaxCel is one of the few products givenfull approval by the Chemical Regulation Directorate for use asa thinning agent for apple crops soon after flowering in order toincrease fruit size and also to reduce alternate bearing.“Management of the crop load is critical and we need qualityand consistency from the tree. Achieving premium size grade-out is important for marketing quality produce and enhancingfruit size alone can more than pay for treatment. The use ofMaxCel can increase growers’ returns by reducing hand-thinning, improving fruit size and quality. It also promotesstrong return blooms for the following year, so it is not just theone benefit of fruit thinning. Fruit size is increased due toreduced competition for nutrients and due to an enhanced rateof cell division and growth. Enhancement of return bloom thefollowing year helps reduce any trend by the orchard towardsalternate bearing,” he says. ◆

Now is the time to order your plants for 2014.

Inti Tray grows Elsanta and Sonata Tray Plants. Myplants come from hanging tips (as clean as possible).

Please order your Sonata Tray Plants for 2015 asap.

You are welcome to visit my glasshouse to see yourtrayplants produce fruit.

We will start growing mini-trays in 2014.


38 F R e s e a r c h B r i e f i n g F


Research in Poland has evaluated the effects of organicmulches and mycorrhizal substrate on Gold Milleniumapples on M9 rootstock. Rye straw, pine bark, conifersawdust, compost (plant debris), cow manure,commercial peat substrate and mycorrhiza substrate(Mykoflor®, containing mycorrhizal fungi Glomusintraradices, G. mosseae, G. etunicatum) were applied inthe spring of each year (Canadian Journal of PlantScience). Treatments did not significantly affect tree

growth. Sawdust mulch significantly increased thenumbers of fruit of size 70-75mm compared with thecontrol. Mulches affected the concentration of macro- andmicro-elements in leaves, particularly Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn.Mulches positively affected the pH and organic mattercontent of soil. The best results were observed with theuse of the compost, cow manure and the mycorrhizalsubstrate, where the concentrations of P, K, Mg, mostmicro-elements and soil organic matter were elevated.

by Dr David Pennell

Research Briefing

Effect of organic mulches and mycorrhizal substrateon growth, yield and quality of apples

Optimal harvest for Honeycrisp™ apples

Mineral analysis and predicting BraeburnBrowning Disorder in CA storage

Canadian researchers have used a new chlorophyllmeasurement tool - the delta absorbance (DA) meter - todevelop an optimal harvest maturity model for Honeycrisp™apple using fruit from nine commercial orchards in NovaScotia, Canada, sampled at 11 consecutive weekly harvestsover three growing seasons (Canadian Journal of PlantScience).

After approximately three months of storage at 3.5C,samples were assessed for disorder incidence. The optimalharvest period was identified by aligning all ‘at harvest’absorbance difference index/coefficient values, fruit qualitymeasurements and ‘post-storage’ disorder data with the

corresponding harvest week. Then, the absorbance differenceindex/coefficient values associated with the harvests havinghigh commercial fruit quality and the least collectiveexpression of disorders, delineated the optimal harvestboundaries. As absorbance difference index/coefficient unitsdeclined during fruit maturity, the upper boundary value of0.59 was deemed to be ‘when to begin’ harvest, while thelower boundary value of 0.36 was deemed to be ‘whenharvest should end’ for long-term storage. The use of the DAmodel approach for optimal harvest delineation is potentiallyapplicable to all commercial apple cultivars, but should bedeveloped for each within a distinct growing region.

Braeburn apples in CA storage can develop an internalflesh browning disorder, commonly referred as BraeburnBrowning Disorder (BBD), with fruit from different orchards,years or site conditions varying considerably in theirsensitivity.

German research evaluated the relationship between themineral status of Braeburn fruit before harvest (18 days)and at early and normal harvest, to correlate the data withthe BBD incidence found in apples post-storage andinvestigate possible reasons for differences in disordersensitivity (Erwerbs-Obstbau). Fruits from seven orchards inthe Lake Constance area were harvested at two pickingdates and the mineral content was measured before

harvest, at harvest andduring storage. Fruit wasstored at 1.5C under CAconditions using either 10-day or 24-day delayedestablishment of CA conditions. Fruit was evaluated aftersix months of storage plus 10 days of shelf-life at 18C formineral status and the browning disorder incidence. Therewere no significant changes of the mineral concentrationsin the fruit during CA storage. Significant correlationsbetween the post-storage BBD incidence with K, and insome cases also with the K/Ca ratio and for P at harvestwere found.



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