This week; Fruit Focus - the annual trade show held at NIAB at East Malling near Maidstone in Kent took place on Wednesday 10th July.
I can't remember when the first Fruit Focus was held, but I seem to have been going for many, many years.
Fruit Focus has developed over the last decade from an event dominated by soft fruit; e.g.. Strawberries, Raspberries, et al. with interest from top fruit growers, especially in the availability of machinery, but now Viticulture is the dominate entity.
Below: A view of part of the showground on Wednesday; note the clouds, it did not rain and the temperature was very a very pleasant 18-20 C unlike so many recent recent years when Fruit Focus baked under circa 30 degrees C or more!
Below: NP Seymour Stand NP Seymour
Specialists in tractors and machinery for fruit and vine growers for over forty years with care given to ensure the correct and most suitable equipment is supplied. Our range includes tractors, sprayers, mowers, trimmers and defoliators, weeding machinery, frost protection equipment, weather and also winery equipment.
Below: left and right. Fendt Tractor with video capture unit and Sprayer with variable application technology
Below: RootWave electric weed control
Systemic action. Zero chemicals. Better Weed Control.
RootWave kills weeds using electricity to give better weed control whilst protecting health and helping nature restore its soils, water and biodiversity.
Designed for vineyards, orchards and bush fruit - the RootWave eWeeder for fruit kills all weeds and their roots. eWeeding generates heat within the weed and root, killing it instantly. RootWave
Below: Tom Archer Head of Sales and Marketing with the latest RootWave machine.
Below: left. Driven by PTO from tractor, electricity is generated and distributed to applicators on the wings of the machine.
Below: Quadrotor Services
Bespoke Drone Solutions --- OUR SERVICES
Our flexible drone delivery system is designed to get the job done in a range of weather conditions and terrain types.
Find out why companies across the UK are already choosing Drone Spraying Solutions over traditional methods.
Fifth generation robots pick 200kg per day
Our strawberry harvesting robots work with the table-top growing systems widely used around the world - in both glasshouse and polytunnel environments. They are capable of autonomous navigation along crop rows, locating and picking ripe fruit, and on- quality control - grading picked berries, and placing them directly into punnets according to supermarket criteria.
Saga Robotics designs, develops and operates the world-leading agricultural robot Thorvald. The company is one of the world's leading agtech companies, with approx. 50 employees and operations in Norway, Great Britain and the US.
The company empowers growers to maximise their yield while reducing waste, chemical use and carbon emissions. The robot platform is electric, autonomous and can solve numerous tasks in agriculture. Thorvald has successfully delivered control of powdery mildew without the use of chemical intervention by using UV-C technology in strawberry and grapevine production. Additionally, in strawberry production it collects data for yield prediction and applies predatory mites to fight pests.
Below: Thorvald Platforms
Below: NFU Fruit Forum and list of Fruit Focus Exhibitors FRUIT FOCUS
Click on link for NFU Forum SPEAKERS
Below: PHD Student Hayden Tempest educating the EAM on his 'earwig project'
On the NIAB Stand I met PHD student Hayden Tempest. Hayden explained to me his project involved attaching small (minute!) electronic monitors to earwigs enabling the exploits of earwigs eating habits to be monitored. Earwigs are known predators on all types of aphids and it is known that where earwig populations are high in an orchard, wooly aphids are found in very low numbers!
However, where earwigs are present in low numbers (Hayden quoted 3 per tree as low) their attraction to wooly aphids is low. So what are they seeking in preference? The monitor will observe what is their preference!
In recent weeks I have mentioned the amazing breeding programs (globally) for new varieties of Strawberries, Raspberries, Blackberries and Blueberries. At NIAB East Malling a number of new varieties have been bred and become commercially very successful.
One of the latest success stories, the Malling Bella raspberry bred at NIAB One is Malling BELLA
Below: Also on the NIAB stand, I caught up with two 'long time friends' - Louisa Robinson-Boyer and Ross Newham
Louisa is Research leader and CTP-FCR coordinator NIAB EMR currently involved in a Coir project and Ross is Operations Director - East Malling
Coir samples
Below: Adam Whitehouse
Just a few yards away, on The Growing in Kent stand I bumped into another old friend; Adam Whitehouse who for many years led the Strawberry breeding programme at NIAB and responsible for the development of Malling Ace among other varieties.
Malling Ace Strawberry launched in 2021
I asked Adam a question that had been 'floating around my mind' for a few weeks. There seems to be so many new varieties of Strawberries appearing on Supermarket shelves, why?
"Well, most growers have moved away from growing June Bearers followed by Everbearers and are now concentrating on Everbearers all season. This saves the cost of setting up coir bags with June bearers, then removing them and replacing with new bags of Everbearers during summer. The new varieties you are finding are Everbearers!
Below: Everbearer FLAVORI
In conclusion; The English Apple Man (due to lack of mobility, only 'scratched the surface' of Fruit Focus Exhibitors, but nevertheless enjoyed seeing many old friends and 'updated' on a number of significant technical developments, and the weather was 'just right'
That is all for this week
Take care
The English Apple Man