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Sustainable Intensification of UK
Plum Production
Innovate UK Project No: 102133
1 February 2015 – 31 March 2019
OD
AREA Annual UK crop area (ha) of Prunus fruit 1985-2017
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000 Plums
Cherries
Other Prunus
OD
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Victoria
Marjorie's Seedling
Pershore Yellow
Damsons
Other
VARIETIES % of total annual UK plum crop area for different varieties 1985-2015
OD
28.9
8.0
0.0
5.0
10.0
15.0
20.0
25.0
30.0
35.0 PLUMS
CHERRIES
OTHER PRUNUS
PRODUCTION Annual UK production ('000 t) of Prunus fruit between 1985 and 2017
OD
15.7
0.0
2.0
4.0
6.0
8.0
10.0
12.0
14.0
16.0
18.0
YIELD Average yield (t/ha) of total annual UK plum production 1985 - 2015
OD
YIELD Average yield (t/ha) of total annual UK plum and cherry production 1985 -
2015
OD
0.0
2.0
4.0
6.0
8.0
10.0
12.0
14.0
16.0
18.0 PLUMS CHERRIES
0
5
10
15
20
25 PLUMS CHERRIES
TOTAL VALUE Annual total value (£mil) of UK Prunus production 1985 - 2017
OD
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
3500
4000
4500 PLUMS CHERRIES
FRUIT VALUE Annual fruit value (£/t) of UK Prunus production 1985 - 2017
OD
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200 Imports
Home Production Marketed(HPM)
UK PLUM SUPPLY Total annual supply (‘000 tonnes) of UK marketed plums 1988 - 2017 (excl. exports)
OD
UK PLUM IMPORTS Percentage (%) of annual UK Plum fruit market that was imported between 1988
and 2017
OD
86.1
40.0
50.0
60.0
70.0
80.0
90.0
100.0
Gross margins of competing tree fruit crops UK average yields
Competitive profitability of growing different tree fruit
crops - UK av yields Apple (Gala) Cherry (protected) Plum (Victoria)
Yield (t/ha/y) 35 10 15
Value (£/t back to farm) 350 3000 700
Harvesting costs (£/t) 78 1000 300
Gross output (£/ha/y) 9516 20000 6000
Establishment costs (£/ha) 20000 70000 15000
Orchard life (y) 20 20 20
Annual establishment costs (£/ha/y)
1000 3500 750
Growing costs (£/ha/y) 4500 8500 3000
Fixed costs (£/ha/y) 2000 2000 2000
Gross margin (£/ha/y) 2016 6000 250
OD
Gross margins of competing tree fruit crops UK good yields
Competitive profitability of growing different tree fruit
crops - UK good yields Apple (Gala) Cherry (protected) Plum (Victoria)
Yield (t/ha/y) 50 15 22.5
Value (£/t back to farm) 350 3000 700
Harvesting costs (£/t) 78 1000 275
Gross output (£/ha/y) 13594 30000 9563
Establishment costs (£/ha) 25000 70000 20000
Orchard life (y) 15 20 20
Annual establishment costs (£/ha/y)
1667 3500 1000
Growing costs (£/ha/y) 5500 8500 4000
Fixed costs (£/ha/y) 2000 2000 2000
Gross margin (£/ha/y) 4427 16000 2563
OD
Gross margins of competing tree fruit crops Yield/price needed to make plum competitive
OD
5 Competitive profitability of growing different tree fruit crops - yield/price needed to make
plum competitive
Apple (Gala) Cherry
(protected) Plum (Victoria)
Existing best 20% yield increase
20% price increase
Both
Yield (t/ha/y) 50 15 22.5 27 22.5 27
Value (£/t back to farm) 350 3000 700 700 840 840
Harvesting costs (£/t) 78 1000 275 275 275 275
Gross output (£/ha/y) 13594 30000 9563 11475 12713 15255
Establishment costs (£/ha)
25000 70000 20000 20000 20000 20000
Orchard life (y) 15 20 20 20 20 20
Annual establishment costs (£/ha/y)
1667 3500 1000 1000 1000 1000
Growing costs (£/ha/y) 5500 8500 4000 4000 4000 4000
Fixed costs (£/ha/y) 2000 2000 2000 2000 2000 2000
Gross margin (£/ha/y) 4427 16000 2563 4475 5713 8255
UK plum industry SWOT: Strengths
• Taste quality of UK plums though variable, can be excellent and greatly superior to imports
• Victoria is potentially high quality, reliable, recognized and liked by consumers
• UK consumers prefer UK produced plums
• Several other excellent varieties to span extended season
OD
UK plum industry SWOT: Weaknesses
• Plums in continuing decline, many old orchards, little new planting
• Output greatly reduced in frost years (1 in 5?)
• Price of plums low, undermined by poor quality, low cost imports
• Plums less profitable than other tree fruits, little incentive to plant
• 'Victoria' predominates & floods the market for ~3 weeks in August
• Quality undermined by harvesting practices
• No public investment in R&D to facilitate necessary intensification of plums
OD
UK plum industry SWOT: Opportunities
• UK market undersupplied with UK produced plums even in August
• High consumer demand for UK produced
• Taste quality of some plums (imports & home produced) poor: Opportunity to expand market with higher quality fruit
• Opportunity for price increase for higher quality
• Huge scope for import substitution through yield increase and season extension of high quality varieties
• New mechanical thinning methods available
• Opportunity to develop new sustainable, intensive, high output growing systems for high quality varieties harvested nearer to ripe over greatly extended season to out-compete imports
OD
UK plum industry SWOT: Threats
• Competition from other stone fruits and other fruits
• Undercutting of price by cheap poor taste quality plum imports
• Failure to reliably supply UK plum fruit of best eating quality
• Failure to invest consistently over longer term in R&D
• Innovations and best practices not adopted by some growers
OD
Innovate UK call Agri-Tech Catalyst Round 2 January 2014
SCOPE
Innovative ideas from any sector or discipline that demonstrate the potential to advance sustainable intensification of agriculture and deliver economic impact for the UK Agri-Tech industry by tackling domestic or international challenges. The scope of the Catalyst includes:
• Primary crop and livestock production, including aquaculture • Non-food uses of crops • Food security and nutrition challenges in international development • Addressing challenges in downstream food processing, provided the solution lies in primary production Topics include: all aspects of arable and horticultural food production……………………………………………………..
JVC
Sustainable Intensification of UK
Plum Production
Innovate UK Project No: 102133 1 February 2015 – 31 March 2019
JVC
Original partners
JVC
New partners (PCR Aug 2017)
S W Highwood
(Pluckley) Ltd
JVC
Project mission
In this project we will develop new intensive systems of plum production that will: • be financially attractive for UK growers to invest in • increase yields by up to 2 fold by optimised planting and tree
management • develop integrated methods to regulate fruit load (frost protection,
thinning) so that a larger fruit size can be assured and bienniality reduced
• extend the season so that the market is continually supplied with fresh product for 4 months rather than the current 2 months
• improve the uniformity of product size and eating quality, hence increasing the average selling price
• together these improvements will lead to a step change in the profitability of UK plum growing
• and incentivise the industry to expand
JVC
Objectives/Workpackages
WP1. Tree architecture manipulation and new rootstocks to maximise light interception and increase yield WP2. New varieties to improve quality and yield, and extend the season
WP3. Component integrated methods of frost protection, protected cropping, flower bud, floral and fruitlet thinning, use of PGRs, root pruning, nutrition, dormancy breaking treatments, spectral imaging to assess fruit quality WP4. Integrated Extended-Season, Sustainable Production WP5. Exploitation plans for improved plum production JVC
WP1: Tree architecture manipulation and new rootstocks to maximise light interception and increase yield
JL
WP1: Tree architecture manipulation to maximise light interception and increase yield
Oblique Fan Super spindle Narrow table top Narrow A frame
S spindle Double stem Triple stem Four stem Candelabra V shape
JL
WP1: Tree architecture manipulation and new rootstocks to maximise light interception and increase yield
• Two experimental orchards planted at FAST and NIAB EMR
• Combination of rootstock and training systems for each plot
JL
WP1: Tree architecture manipulation to maximise light interception and increase yield
LIDAR developed in previous Innovate UK project
• Tree Area Index
• Tree Height
• Tree Row Volume
• Tree Width
Effect on fruit quality and yield
JL
WP1: Tree architecture manipulation to maximise light interception and increase yield
JL
WP1: Tree architecture manipulation to maximise light interception and increase yield
JL
WP1: Tree architecture manipulation to maximise light interception and increase yield
anova Size Sugar Firmness Yield
%
marketabl
e
Height LAI
Training *** *** *** *** *** ***
Rootstock *** *** *** ** N.S *
• Dataset normalised per site => comparable and statistically robust results
• Rootstock genotype and training system equally important for crop performance
• Marketable yield (%) only driven by the training system
• Height and leaf area mainly driven by the training system
Signif. codes: 0 ‘***’ 0.001 ‘**’ 0.01 ‘*’ 0.05 ‘.’ 0.1 ‘ N.S’ 1
JL
WP1: Tree architecture manipulation to maximise light interception and increase yield
JL
WP1: Tree architecture manipulation to maximise light interception and increase yield
JL
WP1: Tree architecture manipulation to maximise light interception and increase yield
JL
WP1: Tree architecture manipulation to maximise light interception and increase yield
JL
WP1: Tree architecture manipulation to maximise light interception and increase yield
JL
WP1: Tree architecture manipulation to maximise light interception and increase yield
PRUNING
• Super Spindle trees required more cuts but quick and simple – easy to train operatives
• Narrow A Frame and S System took more skill to prune
• Narrow A Frame, Narrow Table Top and S system longer to prune than Super Spindle
HUSBANDRY
• Narrow A Frame took longer to husband (bending and tying branches)
• S System vulnerable to breaking leaders when training and required skill
GROWTH
• S System trees did not gain any height between 2017 and 2018 (except STJA)
• St Julien A trees too vigorous to commence S System training at planting
HARVEST
• Spindle trees quick to pick
• Narrow A Frame and S Systems took longer to harvest and required more skill
JL
WP1: Tree architecture manipulation to maximise light interception and increase yield
CONCLUSION:
Based on marketable Yield on two sites plus consideration for
labour saving on planting, pruning skill and husbandry:
– WAVIT Narrow Table Top and WAVIT Super Spindle
– VVA1 advantage for environmentally challenging sites (eg
where want to delay blossom or for shorter flowering
duration) ?
Analysis of planting costs at different tree spacing & skill level
of pruning and husbandry to be considered by growers
JL
WP2: New varieties to improve quality and yield, and extend the season
JVC
WP2: Preferred Varieties Introduction
24 varieties in an Excel database. The database includes: • Average quarter of each month for peak cropping • Flowering period, tree self fertility, vigour, tree habit,
productivity, cropping reliability and resistance to Plum Pox, Brown Rot and Bacterial Canker
• Fruit color, shape, average size, brix, firmness, sugar and acid concentration per 100g dry weight
• Tasting data • Aroma profile data An information sheet for each variety with illustrative graphs
JVC
WP2: Preferred Varieties Peak cropping times
This table shows the average cropping quarter (per month) for each variety.
JVC
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
Herman
Katinka
P7-38
Juna
P6-19
Opal
Lancelot
Avalon
Jubileum (Jubilee)
Reeves
Ferbleu
Top Five
Victoria
Haroma
Seneca
Marjory
Top Taste
Coe’s Golden Drop
Laxtons Delicious
Top Hit
Guinevere
Verity
Haganta
Top End
VarietyJuly August September
WP2: Preferred Varieties Example of each variety
Left to right following the variety list from the previous slide.
JVC
WP2: Preferred Varieties New NIAB EMR very early variety: Malling P7-38
JVC Exceptionally early, heavy cropping, good taste quality
WP2: Preferred Varieties New NIAB EMR varieties: Malling P6-19
JVC Early, good cropping, exceptional taste quality
WP2: Preferred Varieties Tasting Definitions for Taste Panel Evaluation
Factor 1 2 3 4 5
Colour Very Pale Pale Light Dark Very dark
Colour Appeal Very Unappealing Unappealing No preference Appealing Very Appealing
Aroma No or very weak Mild Clear aroma Strong Very Strong
Aroma Appeal Very Unappealing Unappealing No preference Appealing Very Appealing
Firmness Very Soft Soft Some firmness Firm Very firm
Glossiness Very Waxy Some waxiness Mixture Glossy Very Glossy
Sweetness (S) Much less sweet Less sweet Same Sweeter Much Sweeter
Acidity (A) Much less acidic Less acidic Same More acidic Much more acidic
S/A balance Too acidic Mildly too acidic Good balance Mildly too sweet Too sweet
Flavour Weak flavour Mild flavour Clear flavour Strong flavour Very strong flavour
Flavour Appeal Very Unappealing Unappealing No preference Appealing Very Appealing
Texture Very soft Soft Some firmness Firm Very firm
Texture Appeal Very Unappealing Unappealing No preference Appealing Very Appealing
Overall Score Very poor Poor Average Good Very good
JVC
WP2: Preferred Varieties Victoria sugar and acid concentrations
An example of the graphs made to display the sugar and acid concentration data for each variety. Two acids were consistently detected but not identified • Malic acid is the dominant acid, as it is in most fruit. • Glucose is the dominant sugar, it is less sweet than Sucrose: 0.56x as sweet as
Sucrose.
JVC
WP2: Preferred Varieties The average release rate of volatiles for each variety
JVC
WP2: Preferred Varieties An example of an aroma profile graph.
JVC
WP2: Preferred Varieties Victoria tasting radar chart
• The tasting involved 5 or 6
participants answering questions with a scale of 1-5.
• The sweetness and acidity were compared to a reference sugar/acid solution, with a score of 3 being the same as the reference.
• The sugar/acid balance question is asking if the plum is too sweet/acidic or a good balance.
• On the ‘appeal’ and ‘overall score’ questions the higher the score the more appealing.
JVC
WP2: Preferred Varieties Aroma profiles.
• Aroma refers to the smell produced while flavour is the taste but is heavily linked to aroma.
• An aroma profile graph was made for each variety. • The graphs display the proportion that each compound contributed to the total
volatiles. • The flavour/aroma profile of compounds that contributed more than 5% are described.
Victoria aroma/flavour profile: • Butyl butyrate was the most abundant volatile, it has a flavour profile of ‘floral’. • Ethyl butyrate has apple, pineapple, banana, fruity and cognac flavours. • Hexyl butyrate has apple/apple peel, waxy, sweet, soapy, citrus and fresh flavours. • Ethyl hexanoate has apple peel, brandy, fruit gum, overripe fruit and pineapple
flavours. • Butyl hexanoate has fruit, grass and green flavours. • Ethyl 5,8-tetradecadienoate doesn’t have a flavour. • All other volatiles each contributed less than 5% to the total.
JVC
WP2: Preferred Varieties Tasting Canonical variance analysis biplot
• The majority of varieties were scored very similarly to each other.
• Some varieties more distinct e.g. Coe’s Golden Drop was scored differently to other varieties
JVC
WP2: Preferred Varieties Tasting Driving factors
JVC
WP2: Preferred Varieties Tasting Aroma/taste chemical effects on Taste
JVC
No.Tas
te A
ssess
ment
aldehyd
e
Ascorb
ic_ac
id
butyl_
aceta
te
butyl_
butyra
te
butyl_
hexanoate
butyl_
octan
oate
ethyl_
hexanoat
e
Fruct
ose
heptadeca
ne
hexanol
hexyl_
butyra
te
hexyl_
hexanoat
e
hexyl_
lact
one
Mali
c_ac
id
Sucr
ose
1 Colour -0.091 0.106 -0.119 -0.087
2 Colour_Appeal -0.033
3 Aroma 0.016
4 Aroma_Appeal -0.018
5 Firmness 3.532 -0.075 -0.050
6 Glossiness -0.096 -0.077 0.035 -0.070
7 Sweetness_S 0.059
8 Acidity_A 0.163 0.090 -0.037 -0.099 0.084
9 S_A_balance 0.045 0.031
10 Flavour -0.091 0.087 -0.769 -0.036
11 Flavour_Appeal -0.033
12 Texture -0.044 -0.058 0.048
13 Texture_Appeal -0.026
14 Overall_Score -0.043
Significance Negative Positive
<0.05
<0.01
<0.001
Slope
WP2: Preferred Varieties Conclusions
• We have 24 good quality plum varieties with a season from the beginning of July to the end of September/early October
• A unique data base of agronomic attributes and fruit quality has been compiled and a factsheet on each variety including its taste and chemical aroma profile prepared
• Some scored better than Victoria during taste testing. For example ‘Top Taste’ is very sweet
• Chemical composition of flavor profile have been identified, each variety having unique flavour profile
WP2: Preferred Varieties Perspectives
• Picking time affects quality: Plums that are picked under-ripe and stored
are of lower quality than those ripened on the tree. The lower quality will make them less palatable to consumers
• Plums picked under-ripe and kept in cold storage may not ripen enough which would reduce their quality while plums picked when ripe risk splitting and becoming unmarketable
• Further research could be conducted into picking timing to maximise quality and minimise risk of crop loss
• This could involve more extensive taste panels and chemical analysis, comparing fruit picked at different stages
WP3: Component integrated methods
Component integrated methods of frost protection, protected cropping, flower bud, floral and fruitlet thinning, use of PGRs, root pruning, nutrition, dormancy breaking treatments, spectral imaging to assess fruit quality
WP3: Thinning Vital to Profitable Plum Production
JVC
• Many plum varieties set excessive numbers of fruitlets in many seasons (when
no frost, good pollination and set) • Strong competition between fruitlets for the trees’ resources, results in
small and unmarketable fruits branch breakage strong competition with flower bud formation for the following year exhaustion of tree reserves
• Fruit that does not meet market size specifications (40-55 mm) is of no value • Fruit size depends on the number of fruits/tree • Must avoid over and erratic cropping resulting in bienniality - consistent yields
of correctly sized fruit paramount • Must reduce numbers of fruits where excessive
CHALLENGE: To thin in a reliable and measured way economically
WP3: Thinning Strategy options
JVC
• Flower bud thinning (winter bud extinction) Hand
• Flower thinning
Mechanically, Chemically, Hand (branch pruning) • Fruitlet thinning
Hand, Mechanically
Flower bud/flower thinning is done before the degree of fruit set is known: Frost or poor weather conditions after flower could render it to be of no benefit, or worst still, highly detrimental!
Thinning by winter bud extinction experiments
1st experiment (mature Opal trees).
• Treated vs untreated
• Two out of three fruit buds were rubbed off by hand
2nd Experiment (young fan trained Victoria)
• 1/3 vs 2/3 vs zero flower buds removed
Control – No treatment Bud extinction
Hand-held string style mechanical blossom thinner
JVC
Flower thinning with handheld mechanical thinner
Block 1 Block 2 Block 3
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CHERRIES
Before thinning After thinning
Grower standard practice
Untreated
80% blossom open
40-50% petal fall
80-90% petal fall
1 week after 80-90% petal fall
Pea-sized fruitlets
JVC
Mechanising fruit thinning, the Eclairvale
JVC
WP3: Thinning Conclusions
JVC
Flower bud thinning (bud extinction) trials • Effective, precise intensity and distribution • High labour cost; Young trees with few buds only Flower thinning with handheld mechanical thinner trials • Can apply treatment throughout the tree, but need simple branch structure • Similar effectiveness at different times during flowering, but causes fruit
scarring when done later than a week after blossom • Rapid, 10-100s /tree, depending on intensity, tree size and architecture • Difficult to gauge the intensity of application • Difficult to predict the effects of treatment • Hand branch pruning by experienced grower gave better results Fruitlet thinning • Safer, more reliable, but high labour cost • Can adjust fruit numbers to those required to achieve orchard yield potential • Need 16 45 mm fruits per kg of yield potential • New Eclairvale mechanical fruitlet thinner, though costly, is an important new
development
Growth Regulation
• Adapt pruning and tree training – Few large cuts
– Delayed pruning
– Train branches and leader
• Selection of rootstock – Use dwarf or semi-dwarf
• Use growth regulator – RegalisPlus, up to 20% reduction in shoot growth
• Root pruning – up to 20% reduction in shoot growth
TB
Root Pruning
TB
Li, B., Cobo-Medina, M., Lecourt, J., Harrison, N. B., Harrison, R. J., & Cross, J. V. (2018). Application of hyperspectral imaging for nondestructive
measurement of plum quality attributes. Postharvest Biology and Technology, 141, 8-15.
Application of hyperspectral imaging for non-destructive measurement of quality parameters for plum
JL
Application of hyperspectral imaging for non-destructive measurement of quality parameters for plum:
Conclusions
• Hyperspectral imaging between 900 and 1700nm can accurately predict the soluble solid content of plum fruits
• Hyperspectral imaging between 400 and 1000nm can accurately estimate the colour components (L*a*b) and showed reasonably good correlation with firmness
• The combination of two hyperspectral cameras can rapidly measure some quality attributes of plum and further study should investigate the measurement of more quality parameters such as acidity
• Potential to develop hand held multispectral camera for non-destructive fruit quality prediction
JL
• Spectral Range: 400 – 1000 nm • Spectral Bands: 224 • Spatial Resolution: 1024 px
650 nm
850 nm
1000 nm
Application of hyperspectral imaging for non-destructive measurement of quality parameters for plum
JL
Application of hyperspectral imaging for non-destructive measurement of quality parameters for plum:
Future research plans
• In field fruit quality measurement and ripeness estimation
• Tree growth monitoring such as the measurement of tree architecture and nutrition status
JL
WP3: Bacterial Canker Background
Bacterial canker (Pseudomonas syringae) • A problem to nurseries globally, causing annual losses up to
£200,000. • Yield reductions up to 20% have been observed in young
sweet cherry orchards.
• Cut shoot assays in the lab are a common test for tree susceptibility, but often fail to concur with field inoculation experiments.
• There are around 50 pathovars of P. syringae, but two main ones in the UK: • P. syringae pv. syringae (Pss) • P.syringae pv. morsprunorum (Psm) – race 1 & 2 (R1 & R2)
FO
WP3: Bacterial Canker Objectives
1. To determine the susceptibility/tolerance of different commercial plum varieties to 3 different strains of bacterial canker.
2. To test the effect of soil drying prior to inoculation on the severity of disease development in scions grafted on different rootstock
varieties.
3. To test the response of the rootstock varieties to 3 additional strains of bacterial canker.
FO
WP3: Bacterial Canker Methods
FO
Maiden 1 year-old plum trees planted into 10 L pots in May 2018 and arranged in the polytunnel:
• SCIONS: Juna, Katinka, Opal,Top Taste, Victoria
• ROOTSTOCKS: St Julien, VVA, Wavit
Inoculated all trees with 3 bacterial canker strains (November):
• R2 Leaf
• Pss 9654
• R1 5300
• (Sterile MgCl+ control)
Additional treatments (rootstocks only):
• Drought treatment (September)
• 3 extra strains: R1 5244, Pss 9644, Pss 9293
WP3: Bacterial Canker Methods
Pss
Psm R1
Psm R2
Ps. Avii (wild cherry isolate) Hulin et al. 2018, New Phytologist
Pss 9654
Pss 9644
Pss 9293
R2 leaf
R1 5244
R1 5300
FO
Rootstocks only
WP3: Bacterial Canker Disease Assessments
FO
Lesion length (mm)
Score
WP3: Bacterial Canker Results
TopTaste Victoria
Juna Katinka Opal
Control Pss_9654 R1_5300 R2_Leaf Control Pss_9654 R1_5300 R2_Leaf
Control Pss_9654 R1_5300 R2_Leaf
0%
25%
50%
75%
100%
0%
25%
50%
75%
100%
Strain
% tre
es in
each d
isease s
core
cate
gory
Score
1)No_symptoms
2)Limited_browning
3)Brown
4)Brown/Black
5)Gumming
6)Spreading
7)Gumming_&_spreading
Scions
FO
0%
25%
50%
75%
100%
Control Pss_9654 R1_5300 R2_Leaf
Strain
% tre
es in
each d
isease s
core
cate
gory
Score
1)No_symptoms
2)Limited_browning
3)Brown
4)Brown/Black
5)Gumming
6)Spreading
7)Gumming_&_spreading
Scions
WP3: Bacterial Canker Results
Strain Estimate Std. Error z value Pr(>|z|) Pss_9654 3.01072 0.27739 10.854 < 2e-16 *** R1_5300 1.49709 0.24728 6.054 1.41E-09 ***
R2_Leaf 1.40019 0.25273 5.54 3.02E-08 ***
FO
WP3: Bacterial Canker Results
FO
St_Julien VVA Wavit
Dro
ug
hte
dW
ell-w
ate
red
Con
trol
Pss
_965
4
R1_
5300
R2_
Leaf
Con
trol
Pss
_965
4
R1_
5300
R2_
Leaf
Con
trol
Pss
_965
4
R1_
5300
R2_
Leaf
0%
25%
50%
75%
0%
25%
50%
75%
Strain
% tre
es in
each d
isease s
core
cate
gory
Score_.1.5.
1)_No_symptoms
2)Limited_browning
3)Brown
4)Brown-black
5)Gumming
6)Spreading
7)Spreading_&_gumming
Rootstocks - well-watered and droughted
0%
25%
50%
75%
100%
Control Pss_9654 R1_5300 R2_Leaf
Strain
% tre
es in
each d
isease s
core
cate
gory
Score
1)No_symptoms
2)Limited_browning
3)Brown
4)Brown-black
5)Gumming
6)Spreading
7)Spread&Gum
Rootstocks (well-watered and droughted)
WP3: Bacterial Canker Results
Strain Estimate Std. Error z value Pr(>|z|) Pss_9654 2.453 0.242 10.139 < 2e-16 ***
R1_5300 1.418 0.231 6.142 8.16E-10 ***
R2_Leaf 1.088 0.227 4.79 1.66E-06 ***
FO
WP3: Bacterial Canker Results
0%
25%
50%
75%
100%
Control Pss_9293 Pss_9644 Pss_9654 R1_5244 R1_5300 R2_Leaf
Strain
% tre
es in
each d
isease s
core
cate
gory
1)No_symptoms
2)Limited_browing
3)Brown
4)Brown/black
5)Gumming
6)Spreading
7)Spread&Gum
Rootstock + 3 extra strains
Strain Estimate Std. Error z value Pr (>|z|)
Pss_9293 1.242 0.290 4.277 1.90E-05 *** Pss_9644 2.818 0.305 9.241 < 2e-16 ***
Pss_9654 2.536 0.293 8.644 < 2e-16 *** R1_5244 0.710 0.285 2.491 0.0127 * R1_5300 1.249 0.295 4.228 2.35E-05 ***
R2_Leaf 0.761 0.293 2.592 0.0095 **
FO
TopTaste Victoria
Juna Katinka Opal
Con
trol
Pss
_965
4
R1_
5300
R2_
Leaf
Con
trol
Pss
_965
4
R1_
5300
R2_
Leaf
Con
trol
Pss
_965
4
R1_
5300
R2_
Leaf
0
30
60
90
0
30
60
90
Strain
Le
ng
th o
f le
sio
n (
mm
)
Strain
Control
Pss_9654
R1_5300
R2_Leaf
Lesion Spread for each strain of bacterial canker (SCIONS)
FO
WP3: Bacterial Canker Results
a b ab a
a b ab
ab a a a a
a
c
b
ab a a ab a
FO
WP3: Bacterial Canker Results
St_Julien VVA Wavit
Con
trol
Pss
_929
3
Pss
_964
4
Pss
_965
4
R1_
5244
R1_
5300
R2_
Leaf
Con
trol
Pss
_929
3
Pss
_964
4
Pss
_965
4
R1_
5244
R1_
5300
R2_
Leaf
Con
trol
Pss
_929
3
Pss
_964
4
Pss
_965
4
R1_
5244
R1_
5300
R2_
Leaf
0
20
40
Strain
Le
ng
th o
f le
sio
n (
mm
)
Strain
Control
Pss_9293
Pss_9644
Pss_9654
R1_5244
R1_5300
R2_Leaf
Lesion Spread for each strain of bacterial canker (ROOTSTOCKS - 3 EXTRA)
a a
bc
c
abc ab
abc a ab b
b
b ab ab a ab ab ab ab
b b
FO
WP3: Bacterial Canker Results
St_Julien VVA Wavit
Dro
ug
hte
dW
ell-w
ate
red
Con
trol
Pss
_965
4
R1_
5300
R2_
Leaf
Con
trol
Pss
_965
4
R1_
5300
R2_
Leaf
Con
trol
Pss
_965
4
R1_
5300
R2_
Leaf
0
50
100
150
200
250
0
50
100
150
200
250
Strain
Le
ng
th o
f le
sio
n (
mm
)
Strain
Control
Pss_9654
R1_5300
R2_Leaf
Lesion Spread for each strain of bacterial canker (ROOTSTOCKS - Droughted vs Well-watered)
No significant differences according to the different water treatments.
FO
WP3: Bacterial Canker Conclusions
DISEASE SCORES There was no apparent effect of scion or rootstock cultivar on the disease score, however all 6 strains produced significantly stronger disease symptoms that the controls.
LESION LENGTHS (Spread) • Scions:
• Juna, Katinka and TopTaste all exhibited significantly longer lesions for Pss 9654 than the controls.
• R2 Leaf also had spread significantly more than the control on TopTaste only.
• Strains inoculated on Victoria and Opal did not differ from
controls – possibly indicating some resistance.
FO
WP3: Bacterial Canker Conclusions
LESION LENGTHS (Spread) • Rootstocks
• All 3 rootstock cultivars had significantly longer lesions for Pss 9644 and Pss 9654 relative to Controls.
• VVA also had longer lesions for R1 5244 than Controls.
• Drought (water restriction) had no significant effect on lesion length.
NB: Field trial results are highly variable, and therefore require further repeats.
WP4: Integrated Extended-Season, Sustainable Production: Objectives
By the end of the project to establish: • three research orchards on commercial farms • a research and demonstration orchard at NIAB EMR • to integrate the findings of the project into a sustainable,
profitable Integrated Production system • including continuous extended season cropping from early
July to mid-October of high quality, high value fruit, • the use of high density intensive planting and tree
management systems • including protected cropping.
JVC
WP4: New research orchard at G H Dean & Co.
Research challenge: Use modern horticultural techniques to achieve reliable productive cropping in very high quality varieties which have hitherto been unreliable JVC
Variety Number of trees
Top Taste 500
Coe’s Golden Drop 250
Avalon 195
Victoria 500
Malling P6-19 250
Harmona 500
Reeves 315
Juna 150
Hanka 90
Total 2750
WP4: New research orchard at A C Hulme & Sons
Research challenge: Very early cropping of very early and early varieties with an intensive system under protection JVC
Variety Target number of
trees
Victoria (maiden Wavit 4+) 96
Juna (maiden Wavit 4+) 170
Juna (maiden Wavit 1 yr RP) 406
Herman (maiden Wavit 4+) 750
Top Five (maiden Wavit 4+) 576
Hanka (maiden Wavit 4+) 100
Malling P7-38 192
Malling P6-19 96
Total 2386
WP4: New research orchard at S W Highwood
Research challenge: Late cropping of late varieties with an intensive system under protection versus outdoors
JVC
Systems 3.00 m x 1.75 m Spindle 1633 trees / ha block 1) 0.16 ha block 6) 0.15 ha 3.50m x 1.20m Spindle 2381 trees / ha block 2) 0.18 ha block 5) 0.20 ha 3.00m x 2.00m Drapeau 1667 trees / ha block 3) 0.15 ha block 4) 0.16 ha
Variety Target number of
trees
Victoria 286
Top Taste 500
Haroma 500
Harganta 500
Top End 500
Total 2286
WP4: New research and demonstration orchard at NIAB EMR
Research challenges: Planting /management systems Performance of 23 preferred varieties Two new Malling varieties Protected cropping
JVC
JVC
WP5: Exploitation plans for improved plum production
• Conduct a final economic assessment • Present guidance for the development of a high-density
plum production system and to promote uptake by grower members of the businesses of the consortium
• To communicate the results from the three new commercial research orchards and research demonstration orchard at NIAB EMR for at least 5 years beyond the end of the project with their performance (including economic) monitored and with regular opportunities for the orchards to be visited by UK fruit growers
JVC
• Demonstrating highest yielding treatment in 2018:
– T3 Wavit Narrow A Frame
• Recommended treatments :
– T7 Wavit Narrow Table Top or T11 Wavit Super Spindle
• Considering husbandry and pruning costs
• Comparison of protected and unprotected systems
TB
Economic assessment of sustainable, intensive plum production
Economic assessment of sustainable, intensive plum production
TB
IUK (FAST 2018 data - unprotected)
ITEM/COST UNIT HIGHEST YIELD
2018 (T3 Wavit A Frame)
RECOMMENDED (T7 or T11 Wavit NTT or Spindle)
Yield T/Ha/year 32 26
Value £/T back to farm 700 700
Harvest £/T 250 275
Gross Output £/Ha/year 14400 11050
Establishment £/Ha 20000 20000
Orchard Life Year 20 20
Annual Establishment
£/Ha/year 1000 1000
Growing £/Ha/year 4000 4000
Fixed £/Ha/year 1000 1000
Gross Margin £/Ha/year 8400 5050
Economic assessment of sustainable, intensive plum production Is protected cropping economically justified?
TB
Unprotected Protected
Good Best good best
Yield (t/ha/year) 26 32 26 32
Value (£/t back to farm) 700 700 1050 1050
Harvest cost (£/t) 275 250 275 250
Gross Output (£/ha/year) 11050 14400 20150 25600
Establishment cost (£/ha) 20000 20000 70000 70000
Orchard Life (years) 20 20 20 20
Annual establishment costs (£/ha/year 1000 1000 3500 3500
Growing costs (£/ha/year) 4000 4000 5000 5000
Fixed costs (£/ha/year) 1000 1000 2000 2000
Gross Margin (£/ha/year) 5050 8400 9650 15100
• Protection does not lead to yield increase, though losses due to disease and splitting reduced
• High cost only justified if protection enables very early or late cropping and access to empty markets where big (~50%) price premium is achieved
Best Practice Guide to UK Plum Production • Introduction
• High fruit quality varieties for extended season cropping • Rootstocks and their effects on tree vigour and fruit size • High intensity planting and tree training systems • Protected cropping • Soil health management • Nutrition and irrigation • Orchard management to reduce frost damage • Ensuring adequate pollination and fruit set • Flower and fruitlet thinning • Growth management • Ripeness, picking, post harvest handling and storage • Diseases (Bacterial canker, Brown rot, Silver leaf, Plum pox, Rust) • Pests (Aphids, Plum fruit moth, Birds) • Economic assessment • Experimental and demonstration orchards
JVC
http://www.emr.ac.uk/projects/best-practice-guide-to-uk-plum-production/ Also to be posted on AHDB website
Ongoing R&D and KE beyond the project
• Open invitation for annual growing season visit to 3 new commercial research orchards and research and demonstration orchard at NIAB EMR to be organized by AHDB
• Annual update on results and progress (including performance of new planting) at NIAB EMR/AHDB Tree fruit conference in February each year
• Fruit Focus tours • Ongoing funding to support continued research on NIAB
EMR research and demonstration plot to be provided by AHDB (Tree Fruit panel)
JVC
Successful Project Mission
• Identified high quality productive varieties covering greatly extended season
• Released two new very early high quality Malling varieties • New agronomic practices and intensive plum orchard
systems developed which increase yields from 20 to >30 t/ha restoring profitability to growing the crop
• Best practice guide including several improved methods developed during project
• Legacy of commercial on farm research orchards and demonstration research orchard at NIAB EMR
• Secured role of AHDB in long term KE for project
A successful project! OD
Thanks
Original Marketing Organisation Partners Simon Percival (inspiration for project), Bruce McGlashan (first project leader), Tony Vallance (second project leader)
New Grower Partners Tom Hulme, Charles Highwood, Oliver Doubleday (current project leader)
Retailer partner Theresa Huxley, Sainsbury’s
Funders Innovate UK, AHDB (post project support)
Researchers and support staff Abi Dalton, Tim Biddlecombe (FAST), Nicola Harrison, Julien Lecourt, Jerry Cross, Bo Li, Karen Everitt, Julie Bennett, Adam Peter, Jacob Lowe, Magda Cobo Medina, Flora O’Brien, Michelle Hulin (NIAB EMR)
Nursery Nick Dunn, F P Matthews
Project Administration Angela Chapple
Project Monitoring Officer John Stones
Innovate UK Lead Technologist Tom Jenkins
OD