Scab
Scab


Rosy Apple Aphid
Rosy Apple Aphid


Mildew
Mildew


Research - Current projects

Varieties and Integrated Pest and Disease Management Programme for Organic Apple Production in the UK.

(Defra HL0150LOF)

Aims:

The aims of this five-year project were:
  1. To develop and refine an innovative Integrated Pest and Disease Management (IPDM) programme for organic apple production in the UK.

  2. To identify 4-6 varieties of apple of low susceptibility to diseases that have high fruit quality, a range of seasons (storage potentials) and markets (dessert, culinary, juicing and processing) and are suitable for UK production.

  3. Test a range of alternative organically approved plant protection products against apple scab and powdering mildew.

  4. To determine and optimise the efficacy of six organically acceptable foliar spray treatments for control of rosy apple aphid.

The project began in March 2000 and was funded by DEFRA under the HortLINK scheme. Members of the project consortium included growers, suppliers and researchers. The project was co-ordinated by Adrian Barlow, chief executive of English Apples and Pears and chairman of the Bramley Campaign, and the scientific research was led by East Malling Research (formerly HRI), based near Maidstone, in Kent.

Follow the links below to read more about the project.
Background
Approaches
Publications
Consortium members
Reports and papers



Background:

Since the 1990s, there has been strong and increasing demand for organic produce, including fruit, with apples being the most popular commodity in the organic fruit sector. Overall consumption of apples in the UK has remained static, yet more and more consumers are switching to organically produced fruit. This demand is expected to continue to rise, yet over 90% of current supplies are imported. The volume of UK production has remained very small and cannot keep pace with rising demand. Fruit is very difficult to grow organically and organic apple production in particular is beset by many pest and disease problems. At the project outset, existing methods of organic apple production in the UK were identified as unsatisfactory, resulting in low and erratic yields of poor quality fruit. Lack of suitable varieties (together with lack of pest and disease resistance or tolerance) was also hindering production.

The diseases apple scab and powdery mildew and pest rosy apple aphid have the potential to be particularly debilitating in organic systems. There are only a handful of existing organic top fruit growers in the UK supplying UK supermarkets (where over 80% of all organic fruit is sold). This lack of UK production reflects the difficulty of growing apples organically in the UK. After wide consultation with the industry, it was noted that unless new developments in research were undertaken to facilitate the production of organic apples in the UK, demand would continue to be met largely through imports and sales of UK-produced organic fruit would be restricted to a very narrow seasonal window.
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Approaches:


Objective 1: To develop and refine an innovative Integrated Pest and Disease Management (IPDM) programme for organic apple production in the UK

Objective 2: To identify 4-6 varieties of apple of low susceptibility to diseases that have high fruit quality, a range of seasons (storage potentials) and markets (dessert, culinary, juicing and processing) and are suitable for UK production

Objective 3: Test a range of alternative organically approved plant protection products against apple scab and powdery mildew

Objective 4: To determine and optimise the efficacy of six organically acceptable foliar spray treatments for control of rosy apple aphid

Objective 1: To develop and refine an innovative Integrated Pest and Disease Management (IPDM) programme for organic apple production in the UK.

Two large-plot field experiments were set up to evaluate improved methods of IPDM. The first was sited in an established organic Fiesta (Red Pippin) orchard at Oakwood farm, Robertsbridge, East Sussex (by kind permission of E H Wilson & Sons). The orchard was 1.4 ha in size, initially planted as a conventional orchard in 1994 on MM106 rootstock (row spacing 4.95m and tree spacing 3.3m). The orchard began conversion to organic production in 1997 and had reached organic status 3 years later. Fiesta is a conventional apple variety which is known to be highly susceptible to scab and moderately susceptible to mildew. The treatments evaluated at this orchard were: a set experimental programme, the grower

Dissemination:

 Publications
Anon. 2003. Copper works against scab

Collaborators:

 Members of the project consortium were: