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Aims

To collect information on technical aspects of organic top and soft fruit production in the UK and Europe.

Background

Despite a very strong demand for organic fruit in the UK there is a shortage of growers. In 1997 an informal group of growers, researchers, advisors, retailers and other interested parties from the industry, known as the Organic Fruit Focus Group (OFFG), identified four main barriers to grower confidence and expansion of UK production:
a) absence of written technical information on how to grow organic fruit
b) lack of experienced advisors
c) lack of research on organic fruit
d) lack of information on the economics of organic fruit

As a result of lobbying by the OFFG, the Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food provided HDRA with funding for a one year project to collect technical information and to help prioritise areas for future research. The project was completed in March 1999.

Approach

The review was initiated by consulting the industry to identify problems and needs, collect any existing literature and gather unwritten knowledge and experience. This included visits or contact with over twenty organic or 'in-conversion' top and soft fruit growers from the UK, Switzerland and the Netherlands. Many more growers and members of the industry were approached indirectly through meetings, open days and workshops.

Various research groups and advisors were contacted around the world in regions with similar climate and production problems to the UK. Responses were obtained from Denmark, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland and USA. Study tours were made to organic research institutes and advisors in the Netherlands and Switzerland i.e. the Louis Bolk Instituut (LBI) and Forschungsinstitut ftir biologischen Landbau (FiBL).

Literature searches were made using traditional library searches, the Internet and searches of the popular farming press.

Report summary

Crops covered and sources of information
The review covers apples, pears, strawberry, raspberry, currant and gooseberry production. Most information identified was on dessert apple and strawberry production. As a result these are the most comprehensively covered crops in the report. Raspberry and currant production is reasonably well covered but very little information was found specifically on pear or gooseberry production.

Very few publications, web-sites or scientific papers are available in English. Relevant information from conventional literature and research programmes was therefore drawn upon. The most useful information targeted at organic growers is produced by FIBL in French and/or German. The Louis Bolk Research Institute in the Netherlands also publishes useful articles and reports, mainly in Dutch, but it did not produce specific booklets at the time. All sources of information are fully referenced in the report.

Subjects covered by the report.

Current practice and technical problem in the UK for organic top and soft fruit. Nutrition, varieties, pest, disease and weed control are described along with existing approaches to crop management. The main technical and financial problems, as perceived by growers, are also included.

Grower practice and advice available in Europe. Approaches to organic fruit production vary from country to country and some of these are proving successful, especially approaches to top fruit production. These are briefly described and assessed along with the access to information and the impact this has had on production in Switzerland, The Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden.

Organic fruit research programmes. Most research programmes are in their infancy but a surprising amount of progress has been made. Approaches to the organisation of research and how it is financed are described. Subject areas which have been researched or are currently under research in the UK, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and New Zealand are described.

The main literature review is divided into two main sections, one on top fruit the other on soft fruit. Possible approaches and solutions to soil management, crop nutrition, weed competition, management and design of orchards to prevent pests and diseases are assessed and discussed as well as more direct forms of cultural and chemical control. Permitted chemicals and organically acceptable alternatives especially to copper compounds are reviewed. The use and efficacy of substances, biological control agents and pest mating disruption systems currently permitted abroad but not by PSD in the UK are described, including granulosis virus to control codling moth.

Main findings, suggested research priorities and dissemination of information. The final chapter includes a summary of the main findings of the report, possible suggestions to various policy makers in the organic industry, suggested priorities for UK research projects and suggested ways to progress with the dissemination of information collected during the review.

Main conclusions of report

Organic apple production poses many technical challenges in the UK. Yields are relatively unpredictable but it is possible to achieve a profit mainly because there is a market for grade 11 organic fruit (see sister project and report: Economics of organic fruit production in the UK). For orchards converted from conventional to organic production, financial pressures and cash flow problems are usually the most severe during the three year conversion period. Yields drop and it can be difficult to find a market for the fruit while in conversion. Information obtained from abroad should be able to help many growers and improve crop nutrition, pest and disease control. It is also critical that some substances, biological control agents (especially granulosis virus), and pheromone mating disruption techniques should be permitted for use in the UK by PSD. These are permitted in some countries abroad and are providing acceptable solutions for pests which are currently significant problems in UK orchards.

Organic strawberry production is considered relatively easy in comparison to top fruit. Weed problems can be overcome by mulching with black plastic and straw. Systems of mechanical weeding are being developed to reduce the use of polythene. There are relatively few problems with nutrition, pests and diseases. Grey mould (Botrytis cinerea) is the most common disease and to a lesser extent powdery mildew (Sphaerotheca macularis). Crop rotation is essential to prevent the build up of soil borne diseases but diversification into other crops would be required to achieve this. Adopting this practice requires a major shift in approach for an existing conventional, outdoor strawberry unit. The recommended four year break in strawberry production means that only 20% of the land can be replanted with strawberries each year. Slugs can be a problem in wet areas and can be encouraged by the mulches used for weed control. Pests such as aphids, strawberry blossom weevil and spider mite do not often pose problems for existing organic growers. A possible explanation is that insect predators and parasites are encouraged by habitats such as hedgerows and the almost complete absence of pesticide use on organic units at present

Protected intensive strawberry production is discussed. Growing organic strawberry plants in containers is not permitted by the organic standards. Intensive conventional growers tend to have glasshouses that are specifically built for soil-free growing systems. Adapting these to soil based production may be too expensive or impractical. Soil based polythene tunnel systems provide the most likely option for organic protected cropping and are successfully used on the small scale where other crops are grown in rotation with the strawberries. Powdery mildew is likely to be the most important diseases problem under polythene or glass.

Few conclusions could be drawn about organic cane and bush fruit production. There are very few growers in the UK with significant areas of soft fruit so it is difficult to predict what technical problems would occur on larger units. Raspberry beetle is likely to be the most significant problem. Other potential problems include gooseberry sawfly, gall mite in blackcurrants, vine weevil and blight/midge complex in cane fruit.

Supplying balanced nutrition especially in blackcurrant production can be difficult but approaches to green manure and alleyway management used in top fruit production could provide acceptable yields.

Dissemination

Presentations at conferences, a grower workshop and farm walk were organised during the life of the project and this type of dissemination will continue in collaboration with other organisations such as the Soil Association, Elm Farm Research Centre and Horticulture Research International, East Malling.

Two booklets for growers, 'Organic strawberry production' and 'Organic apple production' have been published by HDRA.

Collaborating organisations

Project leader: HDRA.
Collaborators: Organic Fruit Focus Group, Soil Association and the Organic Advisory Service at Elm Farm Research Centre.

For a project report 'Organic fruit production; A review of current practice and knowledge' by J. R. Bevan and EKM Lennartsson (128 pages - £15)