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FRUITTHE

December 2015 GROWER

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Our dedicated agronomists are able to ensure that you maximise your yields of top quality fruit, whilst satisfying the ever more complex demands of legislation, protocols and consumer expectation. Back up this depth of knowledge and expertise with independent financial andbusiness advice and growers can rely on a professional service that is second to none in the country.

www.agrovista.co.ukT: 0115 939 0202 F: 0115 939 8031 E: [email protected]

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THE FRUIT GROWER • DECEMBER 2015 www.actpub.co.uk

OPINION

THE FRUIT GROWER IS PUBLISHED BY

Climate change is top of the news agenda this December with the Paris meetingendorsed by the presence of world leaders. As a country, whichever predictivemodel turns out to be correct, we can be pretty smug, as we will continue to be ableto farm and grow similar crops to those that we do today, even if the location maychange – quality wine from Scottish vineyards maybe? Climate and weather are oftenconfused, so unfortunately there is no guarantee that 2016 will be as kind to fruitgrowers as 2015’s weather has generally been.

Articles in this issue give guidelines on trends and initiatives to improve bothproductivity and to attract new recruits into the industry. Yields of 80 tonnes/ha maynot be unusual in cider orchards these days, but for many dessert apple growers it’sa rare achievement. However, if you read the report of Farmcare’s Kent fruit growingoperation at Highland Court Farm, manager Sean Finlayson believes the figure is arealistically sustainable average yield for his new fruit wall orchards as they come intofull production. He predicts that in 20 years the farm will need to average at least 80tonnes/ha to deliver a minimum gross margin of £12,000/ha in today’s terms.

Trends for strawberry growers include learning that smaller plants can deliver betterresults in some circumstances, according to Dutch supplier Jan van den Elzen of Inti-Tray. He says that, although summer tabletop production still needs heavy plants, forgood double-crop greenhouse production results, less is more. Five years ago 80%of the trayplants he sold had a minimum of five trusses and just 20% had three orfour trusses. Today it’s the other way around.

Hadlow College’s ‘Pip to Plate’ initiative to bring local school children to a betterunderstanding of our industry is well supported by many luminaries from fruitgrowing, as John Guest explains. What is particularly gratifying is that this effort, andothers like it, seem to be leading to a much greater appreciation of fruit growingopportunities, and this is reflected in the fact that there are 18 first year students onthe College’s year-one HE programme for horticulture. Good news to end the yearon!

SUBSCRIPTION RATESTWELVE ISSUES Inland UK £36 Air Mail:Europe/Eire £45

Middle East/USA/Canada £55 – Far East/Australia/New Zealand £65Printed by Hastings Printing Company

ISSN 0953-2188Although every effort is made to ensure the accuracy and reliability of material published, the publishers and their

agents can accept no responsibility for claims and opinions expressed by contributors, manufacturers or advertisers.

C O N T E N T S

News Page 4

Post National FruitShow event Page 6

New NIAB researchcentre Page 8

New fruit tractors Page 10

Pip to Plate Page 12

High Braeburnyields Page 14

Dutch strawberryplant propagator Page 17

Comment Page 20

Research Briefing Page 21

Vineyard nutrition Page 22LION HOUSE, CHURCH STREETMAIDSTONE, KENT ME14 1EN

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

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www.actpub.co.uk THE FRUIT GROWER • DECEMBER 2015

DLV Plant and BVB Substrates are organizing the sixthInternational Soft Fruit Conference (ISFC), to be held in‘sHertogenbosch in the Netherlands on 7 January 2016. Thishas quickly become the ‘must attend’ event for soft fruitgrowers in north-west Europe, linking, as it does, a technicalprogramme with an adjacent trade show and followed by visitsto key producers. ISFC 2016 will include a range ofpresentations that will cover many aspects of the soft fruitindustry. Alongside the presentations will be an exhibitionwhere companies and organizations will present their latestdevelopments and services. The Conference Dinner at the Vander Valk Hotel in Nuland will round off the event. TheConference programme will cover the following topics:

• Soft fruit production in Spain and Morocco; • Quality and the production of strawberries in tunnels; • Biology, behaviour and control of Drosophila suzukii in

Northern Italy; • Handling plastic films and the influence of day-length and

temperature on ever-bearers • Flower mapping in practice;• The role of calcium in fruit production;• The use of Amblydromalus limonicus for controlling thrips

and whitefly in strawberry crops; • Biological disease control in raspberry crops; • Molecular testing of soft fruit plant material; • Raspberry plant health maintenance and the analysis and

performance of raspberry plants after storage;

• Tissue culture and variety development of blackberries. The field trip after the Conference, on 8 January, is open to

Conference delegates only and will include visits to two farmsclose to Breda. The first is to Aardbeikwekerij Verpaalen inRijsbergen, a producer of strawberries, strawberry motherplants and trayplants, and raspberry long canes. The secondvisit will be to Van der Avoird Trayplant in Molenschot thatspecialises in the propagation of raspberry and strawberryplants. In January 2016 their new production location will befully operational. This is a newly designed glasshouse for theproduction and hardening of strawberry and raspberry plantsunder optimum controlled conditions.

For more details and to book for the Conference visit thewebsite at: www.softfruitconference.com

International Soft Fruit Conference 2016

Worshipful Company of Fruiterers Management Award presented to Mark HoldenIn recognition of his outstanding achievements as a

manager responsible for technological advance within the fruitgrowing industry, Mark Holden was presented with the annualFruiterers Management Award by Rupert Best, Master of theWorshipful Company of Fruiterers, at the Fruiterers’ Masterand Wardens’ Dinner at the Barber-Surgeons’ Hall on 4November.

Mark Holden grew up on a fruit farm near Colchester, Essexmanaged by his father. His early career in fruit growingincluded working for Mike Lutener at Marden and EdwardVinson Ltd at Faversham.

22 years ago Mark joined Adrian Scripps Ltd as manager ofParsonage Farm at Cobham; he is now responsible for all fruitproduction throughout the group. A hallmark of Mark’smanagement style is meticulously close attention to detail;orchards are managed to a very high standard and he keeps akeen eye on the profitability and efficiency of each orchard andeach operation.

Mark has been actively involved with innovation, includingnew varieties, the Darwin blossom thinner, mechanical pruningand root thinning.

Making the presentation, Rupert Best said, “Mark’s mostnoteworthy contribution to fruit growing has been theintroduction and further development of the trellis (fruit wall)growing system which has increased yields of Class 1 applesby 40-50%. This is a major achievement, which identifies himas an entirely worthy recipient of the Fruiterers ManagementAward”.


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J&K Polyculture �I.O.W� Ltd

BIFGA Technical Day2016

The following companies have agreed to sponsor the 28thBIFGA Technical Day on 27 January 2016 at Dale HillConference Centre, Ticehurst, East Sussex, TN5 7DQ.

Environmental Energies: Tel: 01858 525407;e-mail: sales @environmentalenergies.co.uk;web: www.environmentalenergies.co.uk

FGS Agri: Tel: 01233 820055;e-mail: [email protected];web: www.fgsorganics.co.uk

ACT Publishing Ltd (publishers of The Fruit Grower):Tel: 01622 695656; e-mail: [email protected];web: www.thefruitgrower.co.uk

The programme will include the following wide range of topics:• 50 fruity years; • AHDB-funded fruit research; • Getting supermarkets to trade fairly; • Giving nature a helping hand; • Generating power, generating income; • Social media for fruit growers, • Avoiding rotten apples; • Pests and predators in tree fruitThanks to the sponsors, the all-day ticket, including coffee on

arrival and lunch, is just £30 per person. Tickets numbers arelimited and always sell out!

For tickets call 01892 724540 or email: [email protected] by 13January 2016. Places will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.

Simon van der Slikke receives 2016 RaymondWickham Award

Alan Wickham, Chairman of the BEST Fruit DiscussionGroup, was proud to provide the testimonial for agronomistSimon van der Slikke, a former Secretary of the Group andlongstanding advisor to many fruit growers across the southof England, as he presented him with the 2016 RaymondWickham Award.

Born and raised in the Netherlands, Simon came to workfor Peter Wheldon in Suffolk before graduating from UtrechtUniversity, and undertook military service before working inWashington State, USA through a connection with Frenchnurseryman, Charles André.

Simon progressed to working with Hoechst and laterBayer, then SEEGRO, and then Pertwee Twyman as anagronomist, before establishing CAPMAN, a computer-based predictor system for crop protection. As a freelanceagronomy consultant in his later career Simon visited China

of many occasions, and further developed the CAPMANwebsite in his retirement.


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An innovative and varied programme was devised for the useof the National Fruit Show’s exhibition fruit following the Showthis year. On the Friday after the Show London was the centreof attention with deliveries of fruit to VIPs and a mini Fruit Showat Defra’s head office.

Marden Fruit Show Committee members Robert Mitchell andJamie McGrorty delivered a tray of winning apples to theMansion House. This was to fulfil the 400-year-old tradition ofthe Fruiterers Company presenting fruit to the Lord Mayor’s wife,who was on hand to receive the gift. The next delivery was toHer Majesty the Queen as trays of the overall winning entry andthe Tastiest Apple were delivered to Buckingham Palace,confirming that our fruit is ‘fit for a queen’. The winners wereNewmafruit Farms for their Best in Show Cameo (99%) and J &B Darbyshire for Rubens - this year’s Tastiest Apple.

Some of the display went to Noble House, the Home ofDEFRA, for National Apple Day on 23 October. The NationalFruit Show fruit display and sell-off was part of the Defra HealthyHarvest Festival with the NFU Board for Horticulture, TheNational Fruit Collection at Brogdale, English Apples and PearsLtd, British Growers Association, The Potato Council andMcCains also being represented. The Festival was aimed at allthe relevant government directorates in Whitehall. The eventproved very popular, with around 500 people from variousdepartments visiting Noble House throughout the day.

Defra Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, AgricultureMinister Rory Stewart MP, and Defra Permanent Secretary Clare

Moriarty attended the event at lunchtime and, with NFU Vice-President Guy Smith and Adrian Barlow from English Applesand Pears, gave speeches on the theme of a healthy harvestfestival. The apple and pear tasting and sell-off proved to bemore popular with Whitehall workers than the free chips, whichpleasantly surprised event organiser Kathleen Kelliher who is

National Fruit Show post-Show eventJoanna Wood reports


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Defra’s Head of Horticulture and Potatoes. The Showcommittee worked tirelessly to satisfy the queues of customersand answer many questions about the fruit. Stocks ran out byearly afternoon and everyone pronounced the event to be agreat success that should be repeated annually.

In the past, the exhibition fruit has travelled around the

country to promote English fruit to consumers in shoppingcentres or at foodie events. In the days following this year’sShow the fruit was used in a number of innovative ways. Someof it was taken to the Kentish Town city farm for their applefestival and some went to the Canterbury Diocese food project.The fruit was locally distributed between a number of KentCommunity Chefs who work with young adults and communitygroups to cook together and learn new skills, as well asbuilding community by eating together. The remainder went toFareShare Kent that distributes fresh food to local communitycafes and organisations such as Pilgrims Hospice to enablethem to use fresh produce, and some fruit went to the NationalFruit Show Education Programme. This Programme is run bySamantha Smith and provides interactive classroom visits,demonstrating how versatile and exciting a year in the life of anapple tree can be as a classroom topic. The children get theopportunity to taste different varieties of apple and to maketheir own apple juice. The visit culminates with the schoolreceiving a young apple tree to plant in the school grounds. TheEducation Programme is supported by Loddington Farm Ltdand Tesco.

Because there is already enough uncertainty.

I have no problems when it comes to cultivating outdoors. With the strong substrate specifi cally developed for me by Legro, I get optimal performance from my crop every time. It’s the perfect mixture and always reliable. What’s more, when Ronnie at Legro gives me a delivery day and time, that’s when it arrives. For me, there’s nothing better than working with a company you can trust. So if that’s what you’re looking for, I’d say pick up the phone and call Ronnie or one of his colleagues.

[email protected] | +31 (0) 88 0081800 | www.legro.nl/uk

“ They don’t just deliver reliablesubstrate, they add value too.”

Leon Driessen, Driesvenplant B.V., customer Legro

Prestop joins ICL plant protection rangeThe unique patented Lallemand Plant Care biological

fungicide Prestop, which provides effective control of a widevariety of plant pathogens in high value crops, including softfruit, is to be exclusively marketed in the UK and Ireland by ICLand its distributors.

Prestop helps to control a number of damping-off, root andbase-rot diseases, as well as aerial diseases caused bypathogens including Botrytis, Pythium, Phytophthora,Rhizoctonia, Fusarium and Didymella. “Prestop is an excitingand strategic addition to ICL’s expanding plant protectionrange,” says Scott Garnett, ICL Specialty Agriculture Managerfor the UK and Ireland. “This biological fungicide is set to playan extremely valuable role in helping control fungal diseases inhigh value speciality crops in the future. With multiple modes ofaction it has the potential to improve resistance management.

Application methods are flexible and Prestop is compatible withbiological and integrated pest management programmes. Whatis more, with no residue, there is no harvest interval”.

Incorporating the mycelia and spores of the naturallyoccurring soil fungus Gliocladium catenulatum Strain J1446,Prestop provides a number of very useful disease controlbenefits through multiple modes of action, including acting as ahyper-parasite, through the production of enzymes causing thebreakdown of plant pathogen cells walls, and by deprivingpathogenic fungi of living space and nourishments bycolonizing the surface of roots and aerial plant parts. In turn,these functions are supported indirectly when stimulation ofplants’ own natural defence systems take place. To optimisecontrol, it is recommended that Prestop is used in a protectantprogramme before infection occurs.


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British Growers Association, the UK’s leading horticulturalbody, has warned the sector that the erosion of plantprotection products will undermine the industry’s ability tomeet expectations for the increasing demand for freshfood.

Jack Ward, chief executive of British GrowersAssociation, together with the chairmen of the UK’s leadingCrop Associations, identified the ongoing loss of actives asa major barrier to retaining a globally competitive positionwithin fresh produce at a recent industry event inPeterborough.

Fresh produce has a vital role to play in tackling some ofthe health-related issues facing the UK. With increasinglevels of obesity and the need to increase the quantity offresh fruit in the national diet, the UK should be looking toexpand its production capacity.

Jack Ward, who organised the meeting in November,said: “Plant protection products play a vital role, andcombating pests and diseases becomes increasinglydifficult as the list of options available to growers continuesto decline. The complexity and cost of the plant protectionproduct registration process is becoming a disincentive forsuppliers to put new products onto the market. The

industry urgently needs a strong pipeline of new product tomeet customer expectations on quality and appearance.”

Growers are calling for a better system of horizonscanning to get early warning of products which may bephased out and information about new products whichmay be about to enter the market. Jack Ward added:“Going forward, we now need to build more of a coalitionaround this subject, and we will be looking to work withother organisations and individuals from across the sectorto make sure that the industry has the range of products itneeds and to get early warning to growers about changesin the availability of products in the future.”

To find out more about British Growers Association,please visit www.britishgrowers.org.

British Growers highlights importance of plant protection products

Alternative solution to powderymildew control in melons

New NIAB researchcentre opened

Certis’ fungicide product Karma (potassium hydrogencarbonate) has been granted an Extension of Authorisation forMinor Use (EAMU) to allow applications to be made onprotected and indoor melons for the control of powderymildew (Sphaerotheca fuliginea and Erysiphe oronti).

Derek Hargreaves, independent consultant and technicalofficer of the Cucumber Growers Association explains thevalue of this to growers. “Cucumbers, courgettes and melonsare particularly susceptible to mildew. Being short term crops,it is well-known that powdery mildew will continuously buildthroughout the season. The fact that Karma has been grantedan EAMU for this purpose will provide growers with addedsecurity to continue to use a fungicide containing the activeingredient potassium hydrogen carbonate, which has thesignificant advantage of leaving no chemical residue oncrops,” says Mr Hargreaves.

Karma is a fully registered plant protection product that, inaddition to delivering a low residue risk, also benefits from ashort harvest interval as well as having a low environmentalimpact. The label states that for the use of Karma on indoorand protected melons, the maximum individual dose is3kg/ha. Growers can make a maximum of eight applicationsper crop per year, providing the maximum total dose of24kg/ha/crop is not exceeded.

In November the new NIAB Eastern Agri-Tech ResearchHub at Hasse Fen, near Soham, Cambridgeshire, was openedofficially by George Freeman MP, Parliamentary Undersecretaryof State for Life Sciences and Lucy Frazer, MP for South EastCambridgeshire. The new research centre is dedicated toreducing crop and food waste, and improving the efficient useof resources in horticulture and the food supply chain, workingwith farmers, growers and processors and covering all sectorsof fruit and vegetable growing.

An impressive turnout of around 70 people heard GeorgeFreeman comment that he had worked on a nearby farmsome 23 years ago and said: “This new Hub has the facilities,skills and expertise to deliver pioneering new technologies forfood growers and producers across the country.”


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SIVAL is the only trade show in France to present acomprehensive range of equipment and services for all typesof specialist plant production: viticulture, oenology,horticulture, arboriculture, vegetable farming, seeds,medicinal and aromatic plants and cider. The 30th SIVAL willshowcase the production techniques that will drivetomorrow’s agriculture: new farming practices, varietalinnovations, urban agriculture and digital agriculture. The

21,000 visitors expected at SIVAL will have an opportunity todiscover the latest trends at two key events: the VegepolysInternational Business Event (VIBE) for trade professionalsand the international Vegepolys Symposium, which willaddress the future of different fruit varieties. SIVAL will takeplace on 12-14 January 2016 at the Angers Exhibition Centrein France. For further information on SIVAL visit: www.sival-angers.com

30th SIVAL horticultural trade show

Pressing of new season Katy cider completedThatchers Cider has completed the pressing of its 2015

Katy apple crop for its eponymous singlevariety cider. Katy is one of Thatchers’favourite apples for making cider; in fact, the7.4% single-variety cider was first crafted atMyrtle Farm almost 20 harvests ago. Now,thanks to the lasting popularity of Katy, theSomerset cider-maker now has over 13.5haof its own orchards in Somerset dedicated tothis bright red dessert apple.

Martin Thatcher, a fourth generation cider-maker, commented: “The Katy apple isalways the first of our varieties to beharvested. It’s a beautiful, bright red apple - across between Worcester Pearmain andJames Grieve - that looks magnificent on the trees. The

perfect balance between acidity and sweetness within theapple allows us to create a very crisp and refreshing cider thathas been one of our favourites for many years and has builtup a very loyal following. Our Katy harvest was recentlyfeatured on the BBC Harvest series. Since then people havebeen talking about the apples and it has generated muchexcitement and interest in Katy Cider, especially amongstconsumers who haven’t had the opportunity to try it before,”he adds. “Katy is a cider with an exciting and genuine story totell. It offers something different for customers who areexploring the cider category and are asking for a great tasting,premium-apple bottled cider.”

BIFGA QuizThe annual BIFGA Fun Quiz took place on Saturday 21

November at the Staplehurst Village Centre in Kent. The eventwas attended by 112 people who made up 13 teams. Thewinners, not for the first time, were Charlie’s Angels, scoringan impressive 92 points. The second-placed team was TheCherry Pickers with 91 points. The contest was closely foughtas going into the last round three teams were in the lead, allwith 83 points.


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SAME has launched a uniqueindependent front suspensionsystem that increases stabilityand improves operator safetyacross most terrains, and isideally suited to working inchallenging terrain such as invineyards and fruit orchards.

ActiveDrive tractors utilisetechnology seen previously onlyon the company’s premiummodels, but now, with theaddition of fully integrated hydraulic and electronic systems,offer levels of precision unlike anything else in this class. Thetractors are available as both S versions for orchards with

narrow rows and V versions for vineyards. There is a choice offive different engines from 80hp with three cylinders to 110hpwith four cylinders, which covers an extensive power range tocater for the needs of a wide variety of applications. Twohydraulic cylinders, the linkages between the twoindependent front suspension arms and the front axle carrier,two speed sensors, two position sensors, a steering sensorand three nitrogen accumulators, work together to ensuresmooth suspension action for a safe, comfortable drive on allsurfaces.

The electronic system analyses the motion and speed ofthe pistons together with tractor speed and steering angledata. This keeps the suspension ideally levelled,independently of the load on the front axle, allowing thesuspension itself to make use of all the damping travelavailable to ensure effective anti-roll control. Brakingperformance also benefits from the new independentsuspension system. The anti-dive function prevents the frontsuspension from diving and causing the centre of gravity toshift forwards, improving both stability and safety.

SAME launches new independent fronttractor suspension

Time’s up for grandfather rightsAs from 26 November this year anyone applying a pesticide

authorised for professional use needs to hold a specifiedcertificate of competence. The exemption allowing those bornbefore 31 December 1964 to use professional pesticideswithout such a certificate ended on 26 November. Anyoneusing professional pesticides now needs to have a certificateprior to making the application, unless they are beingsupervised for the purpose of training by someone who holdssuch a certificate. It is also now an offence for anyone topurchase pesticides authorised for professional use unless theyhave ensured that the intended end-user holds the relevantspecified certificate(s).

The Voluntary Initiative has produced a poster for use instores selling professional pesticides to ensure that customers

are aware of their obligations. To order a poster [email protected]

The certificates required for most agricultural users are either:• The City & Guilds NPTC Level 2 Award in the Safe Use of

Pesticides Replacing Grandfather Rights or • A level 2 award in the safe use of pesticides AND all

relevant application modules for the type of applicationundertaken (eg. PA2, PA6).

For details of providers for training and certification visitwww.pesticides.gov.uk

For help deciding which certification route is mostappropriate for you and your farm business consult theGrandfather Rights pages at voluntaryinitiative.org.uk


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ADAS has been awarded £98,000 to independentlyreview nutrient management information as part of AHDB’sdrive to bring the very latest in nutrient research to UKfarmers and growers. The award follows the announcementmade in June that AHDB will lead on the revision of thecurrent Fertiliser Manual (RB209). All relevant sources ofinformation, including the latest edition of RB209 (publishedby Defra in 2010) and recent research results will beconsidered as part of the nine-month review.

The new activity forms part of an ambitious programmeof work, being overseen by an AHDB-led UK Partnershipfor Crop Nutrient Management, which looks to publish anew nutrient management guide as early as 2017. GeorgeLawrie, Partnership Chair, said: “There are around 40organisations involved in the revision. It is essential that ourPartnership is inclusive, as organisations involved in nutrientmanagement research can help us both access nutrientmanagement information and form robustrecommendations that will benefit growers.”

The review involves a team of experts based at some ofthe UK’s leading research organisations. The ADAS-led

consortium includes NIAB, Warwick Crop Centre, EastMalling Research, PlantNutrition Consulting and BangorUniversity. The review process has been designed to deliverresults in a format that can feed directly into fresh nutrientmanagement guidance.

Focused on both crops and livestock, the review isstructured around six distinct work packages: Principles ofcrop nutrient management; Organic materials; Grass andforage; Cereals and oilseeds; Potatoes; and Horticulture.

With a new nutrient management guide potentially onlytwo years away, the Partnership is supported by technicalworking groups for arable, horticulture and livestock, tooversee the rapid development of nutrient managementmessages.

In addition to the publication, the Partnership is alsolooking at ways for data to be accessed by digital nutrientmanagement services, including free-to-use PLANET andMANNER-NPK software and commercial farmmanagement software.

To access the current edition of the Fertiliser Manual(RB209) or to find out more, visit ahdb.org.uk/cropnutrition

Review set to bring latest nutrient management research to growers

Under 40s announce venue for 2017 Conference

Goplasticpallets.com doubles sales team in six months

In November the Under 40s Committee held a meeting atthe prestigious Chapel Down Winery, Tenterden, Kent tolaunch their plans for the 2017 U40s Conference.

Close to 50 potential sponsors and delegates attended theevent and, following an excellent lunch, the 2017 Under 40sConference Committee moved on to the formal business oflaunching plans for the Conference in 2017.

Chairman Charlie Dunn introduced himself and theCommittee and this was followed by a presentation from PeterWhite of Soil Moisture Sense Ltd that, in part, sponsored the

event. Charlie announced that the 2017 U40s Conference willtake place in South Africa. This is an ambitious plan, but willallow U40s delegates an opportunity to see trees bearing fruitrather than being in the dormant stage, as in the northernhemisphere locations of past Conferences. Charlie said it wasfitting that the fiftieth anniversary of the Under 40sConferences would be an extra special event.

Between the presentations and wine-tasting, guides fromChapel Down took members on a tour of the vineyards andwinery.

The new appointment of Tom Lee as Project Sales Managermarks a period of unprecedented growth forGoplasticpallets.com, as the company has doubled its salesteam in the last six months.

Since the summer, Goplasticpallets.com has also welcomedto its growing team Ben Messingham as UK Sales Manager, twonew office-based sales staff, Gavin Lee and Robbie Hodgson,and awaits the appointment of its new Outbound Sales TeamLeader. Tom joins Goplasticpallets.com with more than 15 years’experience in the logistics and returnable transit packaging(RTP) sectors, having previously worked for UK Mail, DHL, Yodeland one of the world’s largest manufacturers of RTP solutions.

Goplasticpallets.com was established in 2001 as a divisionof All Pallets Ltd. Since its inception, the company has

quickly become the UK’sleading independentsupplier of plastic palletsand, through sistercompanyGoplasticboxes.com, offersan extensive range ofplastic containers, cratesand trays.

Send an email [email protected] call us on 01323 744057for expert advice across theentire product range.


12 F P i p t o P l a t e F


The ‘Pip to Plate’ event took place in late September andhas become a fixture on Hadlow College’s calendar, thisyear’s event being the third since the first event took

place in September 2013. The event aims to educate localsecondary school students about top fruit production and thecareer possibilities available to them.

The day was once again blessed with perfect weather,allowing the event to fully utilise the BIFGA trial orchardgenerously provided in 2009 by John Breach, Chairman ofBIFGA. The event was planned to allow a look at all the keyelements of apple production, enabling the students to gain aclear understanding of commercial top fruit growing. Sevengroups of students from five schools spread over an area fromHadlow to Rochester attended and each group comprised tenstudents plus teaching staff.

John Guest, who has been involved in Pip to Plate from itsinception, gave the students an understanding of the origin of

the dessert apple, which is believed to have originated in theTian Shan fruit forests that spread from western China throughKazakhstan and across central Asia. DNA evidence supports theconclusion that the dessert apple we know today originated inthe fruit forests, rather than by hybridisation, either natural orartificial.

Sarah assured the students that the word ‘genetics’ does notmean ‘genetic modification’, but is the way in which breedersdevelop new varieties by using the DNA profile of knownvarieties, crossing those with good characteristics such as goodeating quality and resistance to pest and disease. Sarah toldstudents that by taking pollen from one variety and brushing itonto the flowers of another variety, the fruit from that union willproduce apples, the seeds of which will be sown to createunique new plants. The process is slow, time consuming andvery expensive, taking 20-30 years before a seed is ready tobecome a new commercial variety. From the thousands of seedsplanted only two or three will make the final trial stage.

Terry Parris, who has been at Hadlow College for many years,explained the process of propagating apple trees. He said thatpropagation is“the creation ofindividuals fromparent stock”.Apples arenotoriouslyvariable from seedand thecharacteristics ofthe parent treesare notconsistentlyreproducedthroughpropagation fromseed. The mostwidely usedmethods ofvegetativepropagation aregrafting andbudding.

Brian Tompsett demonstrated how to create a ‘tree-frame’ onwhich to hang apples, explaining that the tree is made up of twosections - the rootstock and the scion. Brian told students, thefruit tree consists of branches, shoots, leaves, flowers and fruits.The leaves are the ‘engine room’ of the tree and byphotosynthesis harness the sun’s energy and manufacturecarbohydrates - food for the tree. When pruning it is importantto be able to identify one-year, two-year and three-yearbranches and the difference between leaf-bud and fruit-bud.

Pip to Plate 2015


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Understanding the insect life within an orchard is an importantaspect of pest control. Rob Saunders of Hutchinsonsdemonstrated how that by shaking the tree, insects falling fromwithin the tree canopy can be caught and identified. The catchmay identify ‘friend’ as well as ‘foe’, with predators being anintegral part of modern pest control and enabling a reduction inpesticide use. Rob Saunders and Mike Hutchinson alsoexplained how important it is to vary the pesticides used. Robused the analogy of MRSA and how the over-use of antibioticswill lead to resistant bacteria in the human body; the sameapplies to controlling pests, the over-use of a pesticide will leadto resistance, and once a pair of resistant pests mate, aresistant population can build up very quickly.

Before letting the students pick fruit, Stefan Jordan of HadlowCollege instructed them on the basic operational requirementsof picking apples.

Clare Hogan, a BSc student at Hadlow College, explained

controlled atmosphere (CA) apple storage. She outlined thereasons for storing apples and the different types of storagesystems available. She also covered store safety – the effects oflow oxygen and high carbon dioxide on the human body -staying safe!

When monitoring, measuring and understanding even thesmallest performance function of a plant, the aim is to improvethe cost of production with greater output or fewer inputs.Rosalind Fisher, another Hadlow College BSc student,demonstrated a SPAD chlorophyll meter that instantly measureschlorophyll content; this tool helps to manage yield-limitingdeficiencies or costly over-feeding.

Lucy Wright, a member of the Careers Team at Hadlow,addressed the students on the potential careers available inhorticulture. In the past many students have opted for AmenityHorticulture and Hadlow College has a high success rate inproducing students who go onto such careers; however thepotential in the ‘edibles’ sector of horticulture is huge. Fruitproduction can be a very rewarding career; whether as a grower,agronomist or technical manager, there are many opportunities.

Dr. Theresa Huxley, Senior Technical Manager at Sainsbury’s,told students that Sainsbury’s sells one in three of British-grownapples marketed in the UK and has sold more British-grownapples than any other retailer for the last five years running.Theresa said, “Last year we sold over 200 million apples andpears” and that Sainsbury’s offers 32 varieties of British-grownapples and pears over the season. She covered many aspectsof health benefits from eating fresh fruit and talked about careeropportunities. Sainsbury’s Placement Scheme offers two six-month placements, split between Sainsbury’s and a leadingfresh produce supplier. Theresa said; “The minimumrequirements for placements are identical to the criteria for ourgraduate schemes. We recognise you may not have graduatedat this point and, therefore, we ask that you are ‘on track’ for2:1 degree or have relevant equivalent experience.”

The success of Pip to Plate owes a lot to the enthusiasm ofStefan Jordan, who was instrumental in getting it off the ground.From small beginnings new shoots emerge; there is now amuch greater appreciation of fruit growing opportunities and thisis reflected in the fact that there are 18 first-year students on theyear 1 HE programme for horticulture. As part of the programmethe students will have the opportunity to study fruit growing andtake part in events such as Pip to Plate, the BIFGA TechnicalDay and the National Fruit Show. ◆


14 F B r a e b u r n Y i e l d s F


Yields of 80 tonnes/ha and more may not beunusual in cider orchards these days, but for manydessert apple growers it’s a rare achievement and

likely to remain so for some time.Sean Finlayson, who manages Farmcare’s Kent fruit

growing operation at Highland Court Farm at Bridge nearCanterbury, believes the figure is a realistically sustainableaverage yield for his new fruit-wall orchards as they comeinto full production. Indeed, it’s a target that must eventuallybe achieved to secure the future of dessert apples on thefarm, he maintains. “Four years ago our target average yieldwas 50 tonnes/ha. “This year we achieved 60 tonnes/haand this is now our overall business target.

However, ournewer plantingsneed to beachieving muchmore to balancethe lower yieldsfrom our olderorchards, and todrive yields towhere we needthem to be in thefuture.”

He predicts thatin 20 years thefarm will need toaverage at least 80tonnes/ha todeliver a minimumgross margin of£12,000/ha intoday’s terms. “Bearing in mind that today’s orchards willstill be in production, we need to be aiming for that sort ofyield now.” The farm is well on the way. A fifth-leaf Braeburnorchard, Pete’s, produced an impressive 85 tonnes/ha ofapples this season in just two pickings, of which 90%graded as Class 1. Another, Badger’s, was not far behind.Both orchards were planted with the Hillwell clone.

Although these two orchards account for only four percent of the farm’s 120ha of dessert apples, others are closebehind. About two-thirds of the farm’s area has beenreplanted in the past five years since Sean Finlayson arrived,mostly with the Braeburn Mariri Red clone. Third-leaf treesproduced an average of 35 tonnes/ha this season, a figureset to at least double over the next two years.

The average Braeburn yield in the UK is just 40-45tonnes/ha, underlining the progress Sean Finlayson and histeam have made at Highland Court, says Paul Bennett,Agrovista’s Technical Head of Fruit. “This shows the level ofachievement here – it’s massive. “Yields have been generallygood this year, in terms of quantity. But these areexceptional. Inaddition, in a yearwhen we have notnecessarily seenthe right quality,the 90% Class 1achieved atHighland Court ismuch better thanaverage.”

Yield cannot beobtained at theexpense of quality,says Sean. Most ofHighland Court’sapples go toTesco, the rest tothe Co-operative.“The aim is toobtain as high a percentage of Class 1 fruit in the first pickas you can. The newer, better-coloured clones offer thechance of one-pick orchards – and we’re aiming for 95%Class 1 with our Mariri Red.” These apples won first prize inthe Braeburn Class at this season’s National Fruit Show,underling the quality emphasis at Highland Court.

While modern clones play a key role, it is a combination offactors that underpin the farm’s drive for top yields andquality, says Leon Jahae, a technical consultant toAgrovista’s top fruit agronomy team. “It starts with siteselection, orientation of the orchard and ground preparation,and buying the best quality trees that suit the site. Afterthat, it’s about nutrition, pest and disease control andcanopy manipulation – all these factors come into play. It’sall about having an eye for detail, and delivering that detailon the ground.”

The key is to build square metres of orchard wall so thattrees fill the available space and produce high yields of topquality fruit as quickly as possible, says Leon Jahae. Thenewest Farmcare orchards are planted with 3800 trees/ha,planted 80cm apart with an alley width of 3.25m. Trees are2.75m high after winter pruning and measure 60cm wide

Top agronomy and an eye for detail produceexceptional yields of high quality dessert appleswrites Robert Harris


15F B r a e b u r n Y i e l d s F


across the lowerbranches, taperingto 40cm near thetop. “This is key toyield,” says Leon.“Light is crucial – ifthe bottombranches areshaded they won’tset fruit.Production movesup the tree oversuccessiveseasons at theexpense of yieldand quality.”

Most pruning ismechanical, butnot all, says Sean Finlayson. “We still spend about 50hours/ha hand pruning. It’s a common mistake to think youcan get away with mechanical pruning alone on intensivefruit walls. You still need to get into the trees to encouragestronger laterals to ensure there is enough filling in. Everyorchard, and areas within it, has its own strategy – someparts will be more vigorous than others, and this has to betaken into account.” So too must season, crop load, variety

and colour requirement, with pruning timed to deliver therequired growth, says Leon Jahae.

Precise agronomy is critical to ensure that the trees yieldto their potential, says Paul Bennett. “The danger withmodern systems is that growers continue with the samenutrition and crop protection programmes they used before.You have far more trees reaching high yields much more


16 F B r a e b u r n Y i e l d s F


quickly, so you have toincrease your inputsaccordingly.”

The nutrient programme hasto be intense, Leon Jahaeagrees. “High yields are great,but they need to besustainable. You must putback what you take out. Treesneed to build reserves.Without careful nutrition a bigcrop can create a significantyield penalty the followingyear.”

The feeding of trees and fruitis based on a programme forthe whole year, reviewed asthe season progresses, heexplains. A series of basedressings and fertigationdelivers macronutrients to the soil, based on soil samplestaken once every three years. FiloCal foliar productsprovide further nutrients required during the growingseason. “FiloCal products are specifically designed for fruitcrops and we stick to a programme, reviewing theorchards’ progress in February and March, pre-bloom, afterflowering and through June, July and August. Unless thereis an apparent problem, we don’t do regular leaf sampling.”

Pest and disease control has to be excellent to underpinhigh yields, says Paul Bennett. “Diseases like mildew andscab can quickly undermine vigour and affect the quality ofthe fruit-bud for the following season.”

Paul believes that one of the most important things thatFarmcare has done, in terms of pest and disease control, isto subscribe to Agrovista’s Growers Choice Interactive(GCI) service. This web-based pest and disease-forecastingtool tracks the development of a range of pests anddiseases to ensure optimum, cost-effective control. Theservice uses live weather data collected by weatherstations – Farmcare has installed one on each of its fourfruit sites across east Kent. These measure rainfall, relativehumidity, temperature, leaf wetness, wind speed and winddirection.

Information is forwarded every 15 minutes to a centralserver, which uses pest and disease prediction software toproduce graphs that indicate the risk of infection/attack.Growers can access live hourly updates online and textmessages highlight major scab events. “This allows theteam to accurately target pest and disease control, basedon live data, optimising control and protecting yield andquality as efficiently as possible,” Paul Bennett explains.

At Highland Court, GCI is used to monitor scab, codlingmoth and, from this autumn, canker. The farm alsosubscribes to GCI Premier, additional software that

calculates the amount of residual fungicide on trees at anygiven time, based on products used, wash-off and new leafgrowth. “This is the first season we’ve used Premier inconjunction with the scab model,” says assistant managerGavin Lloyd-Desson. “We upload our spray records and thesoftware tells us how much protection the orchard has leftat any given time. At Easter the weather turned just afterwe had done a spray round, and we had several infectionperiods over that period. The programme told us that wedidn’t need to spray, and it was right. Over the season wesaved two rounds without compromising control.”

While optimising control is the primary aim of GCI, suchsavings can be significant, particularly with codling mothcontrol, says Paul Bennett. “Unlike pheromone trapping,which indicates the presence of male moths, GCI predictsfemale flying activity, mating, egg laying and larval hatch,providing a more accurate indicator of risk.”

Sean Finlayson believes several more codling sprayswould have been applied this season had the farm notbeen using GCI. “Although the pheromone traps gave lowcounts you would have been very brave not to spray. Butthe model said it was safe, and we reduced the number ofapplications and ended up not treating a third of the treesat all. At £70/ha/treatment that’s a significant saving.”

Such attention to detail underlines Sean Finlayson’sphilosophy for building sustainable yields at Highland Court.Nothing is left to chance – a long career managing cropsfrom cut flowers to sweetcorn in various parts of the globehas seen to that. As Paul Bennett says, Sean’s eye fordetail, the level of observation and willingness to respond,together with top class input management, has put theHighland Court team on a par with the sector’s best. “Ifanyone can deliver 80 tonnes/ha average yields within thenext two decades, they can.” ◆


17F S t r a w b e r r y P l a n t s F


Jan van den Elzen, the owner of Inti-Tray, is not just avery busy man but also a very active one andrecently ran his fourth marathon in Venice, Italy, in a

respectable time of 4 hours 15 minutes (his best time was3 hours 45 minutes in New York).

Back in the Netherlands, when the amicable Dutchman isnot running many kilometres each week, he runs a thrivingbusiness producing 400 tonnes of fresh strawberries everyyear. Much of this is sold directly to the public from the farm,and drivers know they are getting close, at a roundabout justbefore the grower’s premises near the village of Uden,because the centre of the roundabout is decorated withthree huge strawberry models and, at the entrance to thefarm stands a large kiosk that contains six automaticvending machines. Each machine holds 55 punnets, and thehusband and wife team of Jan and Birgitte also sells jamsand other strawberry-based products, including sorbet.

One of the reasons that the company’s fresh produce is sopopular with consumers is that Inti-Tray only sells the besttasting varieties. “The season starts with the delicious varietySonata,” says Jan, “And this is followed by Eves Delightand then Verity.” So long as the weather is good, at theweekend the six vending machines sometimes need refillingtwice. Open from 1 April to 31 December, Jan reckons tosell around 10-15% of his glasshouse-grown crop fromthese machines.

Strawberries are produced year-round from threeglasshouses just a short walk from the kiosk. These

structures are also used for the second part of the business- trayplant propagation. It is estimated that between 80%and 90% of all Elsanta trayplants for the European marketare produced in the Dutch province of Brabant. With 3ha ofgreenhouses and 14ha of land, around 4.5 million trayplantsare produced each year by Inti-Tray. Jan lets his plantsspeak for themselves, “I believe that if the plants are goodthey will sell themselves,” he says. His plants are sold tocustomers all over Europe, but the largest markets are in theUK and Ireland, which together take between 60% and 70%of the company’s trayplants. “Both markets are crucial forus,” says Jan.

The origins of the present-day business stem from Jan’s

Dutch strawberry plant propagator relies on salesto UK and Ireland Dutch strawberry grower and plant raiser Inti-Tray has spent the past two decadesdeveloping the right ingredients to produce high-quality Elsanta and Sonata tray plants,writes Steven Vale.


18 F S t r a w b e r r y P l a n t s F


father, who ran a mixed farm with pigs, sheep and cattle,and small crops of wheat, forage maize and sugar beet, on10ha of poor quality sandy soil.

The oldest of eight children, after completing conscriptionJan needed a job, and soon after this his mother became ill,and Jan’s father spent more and more time looking afterher. The farm got neglected and Jan was asked whether hewas prepared to look after it. He agreed, and added 1ha ofBrussels sprouts to the mix. Jan’s father approved and inthe years that followed, he added more Brussels sproutsand eventually increased the area to cover all 10ha.

It is nearly 25 years since Jan planted his first strawberryplants. With Brussels sprout prices under pressure hedecided to move into other vegetable crops and also toplant 1ha of strawberries. He was good at the latter, andsoon realised it made more sense to raise his own plantsthan to buy them in each year. There were no trayplants atthis time so he used another of his fields to grow the bare-root mother stock. He soon reached the stage that 10hawas not enough and more was added.

The first glasshouse followed and was quickly followed bya second one. There are much larger structures today, butfor the next decade this was one of the biggest strawberry

glasshouses in the country. At the time there were a fewtrayplant experiments, but for the first two years he sourcedall of his young plants from outdoor bare-root motherplants.

All of the official fruit research bodies reckoned thattrayplants were a good option, but sadly for Jan there wasnothing to buy, so he set to work to develop his own.Unsure of the outcome, he grew 150% of the plants heneeded for 17,500 sq.metres of glasshouses. In the end,95% of the tips he planted were suitable, leaving him with50,000 excess plants. He decided to try to sell them, andafter advertising was inundated with enquiries, selling all50,000 quickly to a British grower. The next year, the samecustomer returned requesting 200,000 plants.

After supplying plants to the British customer for twosubsequent years Jan concluded that there was a future forhis business in raising trayplants. However, he found that itwas not easy to guarantee consistent tip health withmother plants grown outdoors. It was on a trip to Belgiumthat he first saw mother plants grown under glass for tips.

The next year, around 15 years ago, he shifted all hisplants indoors. Jan needed more land for trayplants andmore glasshouse area, and in 2008 bought a further 9ha,bringing the total to 14ha. That same year he built a new12,500 sq.metre glasshouse, increasing the total area for tipproduction to 30,000 sq.metres.

The fresh fruit and trayplant sides of the business are veryefficiently run, and the glasshouse is used year round. TheSonata and Elsanta mother stock is planted outside in April.Then, when the double-crop production ends in early June,the plants are trashed and composted. On the same daythe glasshouses are steam-sterilised at temperatures of110C for nearly eight hours. They then start bringing in all ofthe mother plants for tip production. Averaging between350,000 and 400,000 tips/ha, tip cutting starts around 1July. Often cutting as many as 200,000 tips a day, it takes15 to 20 days to tip all the plants. All the tips are planted

All current and promising new varietiesstrawberry plants, raspberry plants and asparagus plants

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19F S t r a w b e r r y P l a n t s F


outdoors in trays and during the summer they need all 14haof land for trayplant production.

The mother plants are then thrown away and sometimebetween 5 and 15 August they are replaced by newtrayplants for double-crop fresh production. “Elsanta is thebest double-cropper,” said Jan.

Harvesting of the first crop generally ends aroundChristmas/New Year. The plants are then subjected to anumber of hours at temperatures below 8C, and from 1-10February are ‘woken up’ with some heat and artificial light.Picking of the second crop starts during the first half of Apriland ends in the first week of June when the plants arereplaced with new mother plants, and the process starts allover again. The harvesting of trayplants for sale generallystarts around 20 November. The plants are packed into coldstorage and are kept at a constant temperature of -1.2C.

TrendsSummer tabletop production still needs heavy plants, but

for double-crop greenhouse production Jan reckons asmaller plant producing a maximum of three or four trussesis the best option. Five years ago everyone in the UKwanted heavy trayplants and Inti-Tray struggled to convincegrowers that smaller trayplants actually produced more fruit,especially in a double-crop system. He managed topersuade a number of British growers to trial the smallerplants. “They quickly came back for more,” he says. In fact,five years ago 80% of the trayplants he sold had a minimumof five trusses and just 20% had three or four trusses. Headds, “Today it is the other way around and 80% of thetrayplants I sell have a maximum of three or four trusses.”

Interesting factAfter finishing at agricultural college Jan van den Elzen

travelled to Peru, where the word ‘inti’ in the Quechualanguage means ‘sun’. Jan linked sunshine withstrawberries and renamed his company ‘Inti-Tray’. ◆

Precision

PLUS

“Driven by Quality”

www.botanicoir.com E-mail: [email protected]

Tel: 0207 564 8454tel: 0115 939 0202


20 F C o m m e n t F


The farming and horticultural press is full of newsabout the various agricultural shows that have takenplace during the year and also the awards made to

those farmers and growers and their employees who hadentered, or were entered by somebody else, for being themost successful people in the farming and horticulturalindustry.

The reports of the National Fruit Show were, once again, agood example of this. By all accounts, the very good qualityand the many entries for the numerous classes in this Showwere exceptional. This Show continues to be a valuable ‘shopwindow’ for home-grown fruit and it also provides anopportunity for growers to remind the trade and the generalpublic that they are fortunate to have access to amplesupplies of high quality, home-grown and healthy fresh fruit.

Of course, retailers have played an essential part in helpingto maintain the high standards of the home-grown fruit whichthey buy from us, while our consumers can rely on thesestandards at all times. Although the 2015 soft fruit season ismore or less finished, the top fruit marketing season is nowunder way, with some good yields in certain areas, butgrowers do not yet know if the prices they can achieve willmeet their expectations and cover their costs.

There are, of course, various problems looming in thefuture, one of which is the unexpected introduction of aNational Living Wage (NLW), which came as a surprise tomany people. The way it was introduced was entirely differentto the actions of the former Agricultural Wages Board (AWB)that, to my regret, was abolished some years ago. The AWBmade objective decisions based on evidence provided by theEmployers’ and the Workers’ members, which were thencarefully considered by the Independent Members, whobased their decision on the actual facts relating to allagricultural employers and employees. But the new NLWappears to have been introduced in a rather arbitrary way,without any opportunities for consultation with representativesof the workers or the employers, all of whom provide anessential service to our country.

Whether we like it or not, with fruit production being such alabour-intensive activity, we will need to come to terms withthe NLW. In my opinion, the best way to continue to competewith the threat of imports from many countries, where wagesare lower than they are here, will be to make the most of thegood reputation for home-grown fresh produce that has beenconscientiously developed by fruit growers and retailers, overthe last few decades. I believe that there are production areasin certain other countries where the standards are lessrigorous than those that British growers are able to offer and

it would, of course, be wrong to embark on a ‘race to thebottom’ of price competition with these overseas producers,wherever in the world they may be.

That these standards include fair employment conditionsand reasonable wages is, of course, a fact that everyone hasknown about for a long time, but, as I see it, if a consumerprefers to buy British, they should be made aware of theactual facts – perhaps through further increases inpromotional publicity for the advantages of buying and eatinghome-grown fresh produce. At least the growers will knowthat all their British competitors will be facing the sameregulations and that the standards of enforcement are moreor less the same throughout the country. Although it may becostly, employers know that fair working conditions andgenerous wages tend to make for a more cheerful andcommitted workforce which, unsurprisingly, can contribute tohigher product quality and food safety standards, so thisshould make a regenerated ‘Buy British’ campaign easier topromote.

The other factor that may well affect growers’ productionplans is whether growers’ current ability to recruit seasonallabour from within the EU is likely to be affected by the UK’sReferendum on EU membership, which will be held here -probably next autumn. It is too early to know whethergrowers will be able to continue to do what they have beendoing, or whether they will need a reinstated SAWS. However,I can report that when, by chance, I had a brief chat with asenior Government Minister at a local function in the WestCountry recently and asked him, informally, about this, hereplied that if the referendum results in a ‘Brexit’ reinstatementwould become necessary – this was encouraging, particularlyas he had obviously been asked about this before and knewwhat I was talking about. However, as this conversation tookplace before recent events in Paris, one cannot be certainthat his reply would be the same now. ◆

Future prospects for fruit productionA comment from Hugh Lowe

TOPICS:• 50 fruity years• AHDB-funded fruit research• Getting supermarkets to trade fairly• Giving nature a helping hand• Generate power, generate income• Social media for fruit growers• Avoiding rotten apples• Pests and predators in tree fruit

28th BIFGA TECHNICAL DAYDALE HILL CONFERENCE CENTRE, TICEHURST, EAST SUSSEX

WEDNESDAY 27 JANUARY 2016


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by Dr David PennellResearch BriefingCropping potential of long-cane raspberry plants

Managing bees to deliver biological control agents and improve pollination

Effects of post-harvest chitosan treatment in sweet cherries

Long-cane plants of raspberry variety MaurinMakea were raised in a tunnel and in an open fieldin order to study how nursery growing conditionsaffected their quality and cropping potential byresearchers at the University of Helsinki, Finlandand the Natural Resources Institute, Finland(Journal of Horticultural Science &Biotechnology).

The plants were then cold-stored at -1C fordifferent periods of time before forcing them in agreenhouse in order to determine how the durationof cold storage affected their carbohydrate status,cropping potential and performance after storage.Long-cane plants raised in the tunnel showed morevigorous growth - the canes were taller and heavierwith more buds and higher carbohydrate reservesthan those raised in the open field. They also

produced longer laterals with morenodes during subsequent greenhouseforcing, and their cropping potential,estimated as the number of flowers percane, increased by 28-40%, dependingon the duration of cold storage.

Extending cold storage from fourweeks to 20 weeks promoted andadvanced lateral bud-burst, resulting inmore lateral shoots per cane, and increased the proportion ofreproductive nodes on the lateral shoots, resulting in increased croppingpotential, although the carbohydrate reserves of canes declined duringcold storage. Under high-latitude conditions, the maximum croppingpotential was achieved by raising raspberry long-cane plants in a tunnel.While a cold storage period of 12 weeks was too short to overcomedormancy effects, 20 weeks of cold-storage resulted in a high croppingpotential in this variety.

Targeted, precision bio-control and improved pollinationwere studied Europe-wide in the EU ERA-NET COREORGANIC 2 project BICOPOLL. A case study focused on themanagement of Botrytis cinerea in strawberry, with the bio-control fungus, Gliocladium catenulatum, vectored byhoneybees or bumblebees in field trials carried out in fivecountries (Sustainable Agriculture Research).

In open field crops four treatments including untreatedcontrol, chemical fungicide, entomovectored bio-control, andchemical and bio-control combined, were applied. In organicfields, no pesticide treatments were included. A pilot studybegan in Finland in 2006, and by 2012 large commercial farmswere using entomovectoring. In 2012 field trials were started inEstonia and in Italy and in 2013/14 these experiments wereexpanded to Slovenia and Turkey. In total, 26 field tests wereconducted using entomovectoring and Gliocladiumcatenulatum (Prestop® mix) on strawberry, with five additionaltrials on raspberry.

Efficacy results have been excellent, showing crop

protection equalling or exceeding that provided by a fullchemical fungicide programme, under a range of weatherconditions and wide geographical areas. Under heavy diseasepressure, entomovectoring provided, on average, a 47%disease reduction, which was similar to multiple fungicidesprays. Under light disease pressure, bio-control decreasedinfection by an average of 66%, which was greater thanfungicide sprays. It was effective on strawberries, raspberries,pears, apples, blueberries, cherries and grapes. In Finland, it isestimated, over 500ha of strawberry cultivation currently usesthe technique; this represents about 15% of the totalstrawberry growing area. It is suggested that growers shouldmanage vegetation within and around the target crop tosupport the activity of bees and other pollinators, which canhelp to disseminate the beneficial bio-control within the crop,and that product manufacturers further develop products andformulations specifically for entomovectoring, as currentformulations are suboptimal, having been optimized for otheruses, such as mixing into soil.

The effectiveness of coating fruit with chitosan to delaythe onset of senescence in three sweet cherry cultivars,Ferrovia, Lapins, and Della Recca, were evaluated by Italianresearchers (Postharvest Biology and Technology).Fruits were dipped for 60 seconds into a 0.5% chitosansolution, stored at 2C for 14 days and sampled at harvest,and at seven and 14 days of cold storage. At each

sampling date, sub-samples were maintained for three daysat 24C to assess the shelf-life of the fruit. Chitosan coatingdelayed cell membrane damage. Chitosan-coated fruitshowed a lower decay, both at 2C and 24C, than theuncoated fruit. Della Recca fruit had better membranepreservation and antioxidant enzyme system activity thanFerrovia or Lapins.


22 F V i t i c u l t u r e F


“With fields at field capacity, thismonth is a good time toundertake soil analysis, but

growers need to ensure that they do thisaccording to best practice,” says ChrisCooper. He advises that routine soil analysisshould be carried out every three to five yearsand used to determine acidity (pH) as well asavailability of potassium, phosphorus andmagnesium in the soil.

“Other elements can be determined, at extracost, and normally this is only carried out whereparticular problems are suspected.”

Chris explains that the field sample analysedis a mixed sample derived from a number ofcores, normally 25 cores from a cropping area of four hectaresor less taken in a zigzag pattern across the vineyard. “This iseasier said than done, with all the wirework in the way! Any area

that is obviously different should be excluded or sampledseparately. The samples are collected from the top 15cm, withinthe rooting zone of the vines, using a tubular corer.Comparatively, grapevines are tolerant of a range of pH values,but if the pH is much above 7.3 they are prone to iron chlorosis,

although certain rootstocks can ameliorate this effect. Vinesgenerally require relatively small quantities of added nutrition.”

Chris says that much of the nutrient uptake is used in leaf andcane production, which is usually recycled within the plantation

via mulching of the prunings or leafdecomposition. However, if prunings areremoved and burnt, nutrient off-takeincreases.

Nutrient utilisation is not perfect, so theamounts growers need to apply aresomewhat higher; the DEFRA Nutrient andFertiliser Handbook RB209 (eighth edition)gives a reasonable guide to the fertiliserrequirement of vines, with the exception ofnitrogen.

The rates given are for the whole groundarea. Where the fertiliser is applied in a band

along the base of the vines, the rate should be reduced pro rata,adds Rob Saunders. “We feel that the RB209 nitrogen figuresfor vines are generally high and promote excess vigour. If thevines become over vigorous, the options for managing it are notstraightforward, involving training, pruning, root-pruning and

possibly even growing competitive cover cropsin the alleyways,” he warns.

Rob points out that vine growers in coolclimates tread a tightrope as far as nitrogen isconcerned. “Adequate yield is vital for businesssustainability, but excess nitrogen supplycontributes too much vigour, requiring extramanagement. It also increases diseasesusceptibility and delays ripening. It is better tostart with lower rates using soil applications andfine-tune with leaf analysis and foliarapplications.” ◆

Winter vineyard nutritionVine agronomists Chris Cooper and Rob Saunders of Hutchinsons advise on thismonth’s priorities.



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