East Malling Farm Tours at Fruit Focus 2010

The Farm Tours being held as part of Fruit Focus 2010 on the 21st July will be a must for anyone interested in seeing the work that East Malling Research (EMR) is involved in. The tours will run throughout the day at the event and will be hosted by EMR researchers and staff.

Tour Stop 1: Using deficit irrigation to improve strawberry fruit flavour, quality and shelf-life (HL0187).
Host: Dr Mark Else

Abstraction rates in the major strawberry growing regions are already unsustainable and are set to rise by a further 30% in the next few decades.  All growers will have to comply with legislation designed to protect the environment and so they will have to demonstrate a continued need for, and an efficient use of, irrigation water.  This must be achieved without reducing marketable yields of high quality, flavoursome, and healthy fruit.

At Fruit Focus 2010, research leader Dr Mark Else will discuss recent results from HortLINK project HL0187, which he says “aims to develop irrigation strategies to help growers increase their water use efficiencies (WUE).  Using scientifically-derived guidelines, a ‘low risk’ irrigation strategy has been developed that delivers substantial water savings and maintains marketable yields and quality.”

This strategy has recently been trialled on a local soft fruit farm and Mark will discuss some of the results from this grower trial.

Mark Else explains this year’s trial at EMR: “Deficit irrigation techniques are being developed to deliver further water savings while improving berry quality. A ‘closed loop’ irrigation system in which irrigation is switched on automatically once pre-set trigger values are reached will also be demonstrated and the potential of using this system to deliver water and fertiliser savings across the soft fruit industry will be discussed.”

Tour Stop 2: Minimising pesticide residues in strawberry.
Prof. Jerry Cross

This stop on the tour will highlight work being done to develop alternative, sustainable, non-pesticidal methods for managing Botrytis, powdery mildew, black spot, aphids, blossom weevil and capsid bugs on strawberries (Horticulture LINK project HL0191 (1 April 2008- 31 Mar 2013)). The overall aim of the project is to greatly reduce (by >50%) pesticide use and eliminating the occurrence of reportable pesticide residues in harvested fruit.

The methods developed for the individual pests and diseases will be combined with existing non-chemical methods for other pests and diseases in an overall Integrated Pest and Disease Management (IPDM) system, and this will be tested and refined in commerical strawberry production over two seasons.  Excellent progress has been made and some important findings to date and implications for pest and disease management in strawberry have been found.

Tour Stop 3: New East Malling ‘everbearing’ variety ‘Finesse’ and an update on the Strawberry Breeding Club.

‘Finesse’ (formerly EMR346) is an ‘everbearing’ variety that produces high yields (up to 1.37kg/plant Class 1) of heart-shaped berries of excellent eating quality. Unlike the situation with most ‘everbearing’ strawberries, there are no proprietary rights attached to ‘Finesse’, so it is available to all growers.

Dr David Simpson says “Finesse has the potential to provide growers with a robust plant that will produce a reliably consistent yield of good quality fruit suitable for a range of markets. It can be grown in both substrate and soil growing systems. Its lack of runners reduces husbandry inputs and the very good fruit display allows for a quick, easy harvest throughout the season.”

‘Finesse’ has an advantage over many ‘everbearer’ varieties due its very good resistance to soil-borne diseases like Verticillium wilt and crown rot, and moderate resistance to powdery mildew, allowing the variety to be planted in a wide range of situations.

Sainsbury’s and Tesco have listed the variety. Both supermarkets will be selling fruit in 2010, although distribution to stores will be limited, as there are as yet only about 130,000 plants in this, its first season of commercial production.

Strawberry breeding at EMR is currently funded through a consortium known as the East Malling Strawberry Breeding Club which was launched at Fruit Focus in 2008. Underpinning funding is provided by Defra.

David Simpson explains: “The breeding and trialling of Finesse was jointly funded by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), Meiosis Limited, the Horticultural Development Council (HDC) and the East Malling Trust.

“The strawberry breeding programme at East Malling Research aims to develop a range of high quality varieties with overlapping seasons, which crop in succession from April to October.  A major emphasis for new varieties is placed on excellent fruit quality, including good flavour, attractive appearance and good shelf life.  In addition, improved resistance to pests and diseases is another important characteristic.”

Tickets for Fruit Focus are available free of charge by registering through the event website at www.fruitfocus.co.uk.  Visitors will also earn points for attending: 3 NRoSO points and 3 BASIS points.

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Contact for more information:
Jane Craigie
Tel: 01466 780078
Mob: 07795 278767
Email: jane@janecraigie.com

Notes to Editors
Fruit Focus 2010:
• Fruit Focus takes place on 21stJuly 2010, at East Malling, Kent.  Opening times are 9am – 4pm.
• Show features include leading suppliers’ stands, crop plots, a live demonstration area, the  NFU and Syngenta Bioline Fruit Forums, fruit research farm tours and the Vines to Wine exhibition and seminar programme
• Key sponsors are the NFU, Berry Gardens and Syngenta Bioline
• Fresh Produce Journal is the event media partner
• Fruit Focus is organised and presented by Haymarket Business Exhibitions and supported by Horticulture Week/Grower
• Fruit Focus is registered for BASIS and NRoSO CPD points.  Point allocation is:
       o 3 NRoSO CPD points.
       o 3 BASIS points. Points allocation: 1 x crop protection, 1 x environment, 1 x application
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