The event is split into three sessions, the first leading with a presentation by NIAB’s Growing Kent & Medway team on how the programme is supporting sustainable innovation in the sector. New developments in post-harvest research at The University of Greenwich will include a talk on a Growing Kent & Medway funded project on improving energy use in apple stores. There will also be presentations on the new apple rootstock M200 and research to speed up the process of apple breeding.
Session two focuses largely on disease control and new research into improved management of apple scab, apple canker, apple replant disease and brown rot in cherry. This session will close with new information on how NIAB has developed new wildflower mixes that are dedicated to enhancing pollination and beneficial insects in apple, pear and cherry orchards.
Session three will provide the latest results on a series of pest management projects in tree fruit crops covering control of woodlice, a new problem in apple orchards, woolly apple aphid, apple sawfly, codling moth, forest bug and brown marmorated stink bug. The latest technology for controlling spotted wing drosophila in cherry and plum will also be presented.
NIAB Knowledge Exchange Manager Scott Raffle, said: “NIAB continues to support the tree fruit industry through a wide range of research projects, many of which are delivering new results and information that can be implemented in commercial productions. Virtual events like this Tree Fruit Day allow us to connect with a wide audience across the UK and abroad to raise the awareness of tree fruit work at NIAB’s East Malling site and elsewhere, explaining how it might benefit tree fruit growers. I do encourage growers, technologists, agronomists and anyone involved in the industry to register to attend.”
The NIAB Tree Fruit Day takes place online on Thursday 22nd February, from 9.50am to 3.15pm.
Event programme
09:50 Introduction and welcome
Session 1: New developments and post-harvest research (1hr, 5 mins)
10:00 Growing Kent & Medway: Supporting sustainability and innovation in the tree fruit sector (Robert Saville, NIAB and Rachel McGauley, British Apples and Pears Ltd)
10:15 Monitoring energy use of apple stores and managing apple maturity at harvest using a sprayable formulation of 1-MCP (AF-701) by AgroFresh (Richard Colgan, University of Greenwich)
10:35 M200 – A new rootstock bred by NIAB at East Malling (Feli Fernandez, NIAB)
10:50 Speeding up the process of apple breeding (Amanda Karlstrom, NIAB)
11:05 Break
Session 2: Novel approaches to pest and disease control (1hr, 20 mins)
11:15 New research into apple scab control (Tom Passey and Katie Stewart, NIAB)
11:30 Latest developments in apple canker research (Mat Papp-Rupar and Louisa Robinson, NIAB)
11:50 Control of brown rot in cherry (Mat Papp-Rupar, NIAB)
12:05 Apple replant disease and soil amendments (Tom Passey, NIAB)
12:20 Wildflower mixes dedicated to tree fruit pollination (Celine Silva, NIAB)
12:35 Lunch break
Session 3: Pest and ecology research in tree fruit (2hrs)
13:15 Woodlice in apple orchards – a new problem (Jude Bennison, ADAS)
13:30 Woolly apple aphid control using earwig inoculations (Michelle Fountain, NIAB)
13:45 New techniques to control apple sawfly (Francesca Elliot, NIAB)
14:00 Brown marmorated stink bug and its spread in the UK (Francis Wamonje, NIAB)
14:15 Review of codling moth control (Charles Whitfield, NIAB)
14:30 Development of pheromones for forest bug control (Francis Wamonje, NIAB)
14:45 The impact of SWD bait sprays on non-target insects (Adam Walker, NIAB)
15:00 Latest results with sterile insect technique for SWD control (Glen Slade, BigSis)
15:15 Close