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13th Dec 2024 - NIAB EMR 2024 Soft Fruit Review

Last week, The English Apple Man 'tuned into NIAB EMR 2024 Soft Fruit Review/' from the comfort of my armchair and lap top via a webinar hosted by Scott Raffle and featuring many of the NIAB scientists who are working on potential cutting edge solutions to the plethora of challenges faced by the British soft fruit industry

 

Niab Knowledge Exchange Manager Scott Raffle, commented, "The soft fruit industry is continually being challenged to maximise yields, increase circularity and sustainability within production businesses, and rely on environmental management techniques to harness natural control agents for pests and diseases. This event will focus on Growing Kent & Medway and other funded projects that seek to overcome some of these challenges "

 

Previous Niab work on the full yield potential of strawberry varieties Malling Champion and Malling Ace highlighted the variation in yield potential between individual plants. Work is now focused on optimising the propagation environment to produce plants of equal quality that have the same maximum yield potential. Niab is also working to optimise raspberry propagation to maximise plant uniformity.

 

 

This week, I can only 'scratch the surface' of the Soft Fruit Review. So much information which will in due course be published on the NIAB EMR Website. In the meantime I will pick out some elements which resonate with my personal interests in the efforts of the brilliant scientists at NIAB EMR.

 

Mark Else - Matching nitrogen supply to demand in container grown raspberry

 

 

Matching crop N-demand with supply - Current growing practices include the application of fertilisers in excess of crop

requirements, causing:

 

Vigorous canopy growth - reduces light interception, complicates crop management, increases picking costs

 

 

Unfavourable microclimate that increase risk of disease - Accumulation of "ballast ions" in coir, which necessitates

flushing events - Groundwater contamination and increased GHG emissions

 

Objective: To predict and supply raspberry crop nitrogen demand during different developmental

stages in changeable weather

 

 

N-demand model... Climate

 

We adapted an existing nutrition model (VegSyst) for a range of strawberry and raspberry varieties

.

VegSyst was developed for soil-grown tomatoes in southern Spain The model uses temperature and PAR to estimate crop growth and nitrogen uptake. We can then predict: Weekly nitrogen requirements - Weekly irrigation requirements....

 

2022

 

2-year-old root blocks, 50 cm spacing

63% saving of N, 39% saving of water, 16% lower Class 1 yields (4.1 vs 3.5 kg/pot)

Yield reduction caused by inaccurate estimates of water use (crop co-efficients)

This resulted in N deficiency in vegetative stage

Photosynthesis reduced......

.

Summary of Malling Bella work to date (2022-2023)

 

2023

 

First year primocanes, 50 cm spacing

Used actual water use to predict future demand

7% reduction (not significant) in Class 1 yields (2.46 vs 2.3 kg/pot)

76% less Nitrogen applied using model outputs to schedule inputs

27% less water used due to smaller canopy in NF-treated plants

No need to thin canes

More open canopy - easier to pick - should raise production efficiency

 

N-demand model for Malling Bella was adjusted in 2024

 

1-year-old root blocks, 80 cm spacing - 10 canes per pot, fan-shaped growing system (PAR)

.

Adjustments made to account for biomass produced / ha

Number of canes per pot

Planting density

Challenging some assumptions

Fertiliser recommendations / ha

Fertiliser purity / N content

Consistency of made-up formulation

Consistency of fertigation delivery (temporal & spatial)

Sampling procedures, accuracy of lab. results etc

 

 

 

 

Trevor Wignall - The WET Centre - What have we learnt since 2016?

 

The WET Centre, an integrated portfolio of high performance, 'state-of-the-art' trickle irrigation technologies and systems for the soft fruit sector, established at NIAB EMR, launched at Fruit Focus on 19 July 2017.

 

The facility is being developed alongside the project's commercial partners; Berry Gardens Growers, Delta T Devices, Netafim UK, New Leaf Irrigation and CocoGreen presents, with further strategic support from Meiosis, Kent County Council and LEAF.

 

 

Evolution of UK Soft Fruit Production

 

* Strawberry production growth:

* 127,000 tonnes (£629m) in 2018 to * 143,000 tonnes (£787m) in 2022 (Kantar; Berry Year Book 2023)

* 144,000 tonnes of berries were imported in 2023, worth ca. £762m (Defra)

* Transition from soil to substrate requires more accurate irrigation

 

WET Centre Layout (Strawberry)

 

*Eight commercial-scale polytunnels (0.34 ha)

*Commercial area - Advanced area

*Precision irrigation - high performance sensors, data loggers (Delta-T) and automated irrigation to ensure optimal coir moisture availability

*Improved coir water availability - tailored coir grades (Cocogreen)

*Netajet Octa nutrigation rig (Netafim)

*Stoller and Yara nutritional products

*Polytunnel rainwater harvesting and re-use

*Hydrogen peroxide water treatment (EndoSan)

*Automated polytunnels / environmental control

*Malling strawberry varieties: Champion & Ace

Below: left. Malling Champion and right. Malling Ace strawberries

 

 

WET Centre Impact on UK Soft Fruit Research and Industry

 

*Reduction in average water use per tonne of fruit produced

*Generate benchmark data (KPIs) for realistic net zero targets

*Benchmarking for comparative performance of other growing environments: glasshouses, TCEA, etc

*Integrated package of PI, IPM, vigilant husbandry = high health

*Combination of PI with RWH improves local water security - need both for success

*The importance of light as a key consideration for TCEA productivity and horticultural design (orchards, polytunnels

 

 

 

 

Louisa Robinson-Boyer - Optimising raspberry propagation for improved plant uniformity

 

Challenges

 

* Demand for high quality planting material for raspberry continuing to rise, especially of new varieties such as 'Malling Bella'

 

* High dependency on imports - cost/quality

 

* Inefficient raspberry propagation - variable survival and establishment

 

* High cost of production, reliance on chemical and resource input

 

* Production primarily depends on coir - long term sustainability and costs

 

Investigate the use of commercially available beneficial microorganisms to improve raspberry propagation and establishment

 

 

Coir substrate lacks beneficial soil microbe

 

A healthy plant microbiome is.... A balance of beneficial microorganisms - Low levels of pathogenic organisms - Diverse populations

 

* Raspberry propagation and production both use coir as a substrate

* High costs of virgin coir

* Increasing demand globally

* Expensive to treat and source

* Environmental costs

* Supply limited

* Resource intensive

_Shipping from Asia

* Farm waste

* Circular economy

* AMF tends to give patchy/irregular colonisation in virgin coir

* Can coir from strawberry production be processed and recycled for raspberry

 

Aims:

 

1. Improving tray plant production

* Using microbial amendments for root blocks

* Assessing tip production and establishment

 

2. Enhancing primocane production and cropping

* Amendment in field planting

* Establishment, growth and cropping

 

3. Improving long cane production and cropping

* Amendment in field planting

* Establishment, growth and cropping

 

4. Improving Production efficiency and sustainability 'Malling Bella'

 

* Using spent coir waste from strawberry (recycled coir) for raspberry production

* Better understand the nutrient profile, water holding capacity, structure/porosity and disease

pressure of recycled coir

 

Conclusions

 

* Early data and better estimates will be obtained from 2024 planted primocane and long cane

* Very encouraging trends:

* Recycled coir (from strawberry) good for growing raspberry

* Addition of AMF recovers the slight reduction on Class 1 yield in recycled coir

(long cane)

* AMF addition (virgin and recycled) increases berry size

* AMF/coir interaction. AMF has greater in recycled coir than virgin (long cane)

* Effect of Coir type and AMF inoculation on time to first fruit- important

for production planning

* AMF delay time to first fruit

* Recycled coir decreased time to first fruit

 

 

Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF) Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR)

 

Mycorrhizae; an extract from an article in The English Apple Man Journal in 2015

 

In the picture, the yellow colour is the root system of the tree, while the white is the mycorrhizae attached to the host (tree roots) and capable of delivering efficient uptake of nutrients to the tree system.

 

Mycorrhizae is becoming increasingly harnessed for new plantings; in this case apple trees.

 

To assist establishment, growers treat the tree roots with root promoting mychorrizae before planting. The fungi colonize the roots and improve nutrient uptake, especially phosphorus which aids establishment of the new tree. Interestingly mycorrhizae cannot exist without the tree (plant) as a host, however the tree (plant) does not need the mycorrhizae but in the right circumstances, benefits from the interaction with mycorrhizae.

 

Mycorrhizae can be described as a symbiotic relationship between a fungus and a plant. Due to the fact that this is a symbiotic relationship, both the fungus and the plant benefit from this interaction. Since the plants are above ground, it is often easier to see the benefits of this association for the plant, but the fungus also takes advantage of this partnership.

 

The mycorrhizae aid the plant with growth, yield, improved fitness, increase the root absorption area of nutrients, while the fungus receives carbon and energy from the associated plant. This is an important interaction due to the benefits that the plants receive. Improved plant growth and yield can aid in the production of crops and therefore produce more plants per area.

 

Although mycorrhizae produce the same overall effects, there are two main types of this fungus. Endomycorrhizae and ectomycorrhizae are the two main types of mycorrhizae that produce the same overall results, but with different fungal characteristics.

 

Elicitors (A substance or other stimulus that triggers the hypersensitive response in a plant)

 

 

 

 

The English Apple Man Comments

 

The information contained in the Niab Emr Soft Fruit Review is, as I said earlier 'extensive'. The programme shown below, indicates the Scientists involved and the broad spectrum of research covered

 

Below: Emphasising the detailed content of the day's programme which was split into three sessions.....

 

 

Session 1: New developments and resource use efficiency

09.20: Graham Dow - Introducing The Soft Fruit Genetic Improvement Network

09.35: Mark Else - Matching nitrogen supply to demand in container grown raspberry

09.50: Katia Zacharaki - Optimising the propagation environment for strawberry

10.10: Trevor Wignall - The WET Centre - What have we learnt since 2016?

10.35: Ece Moustafa - The effects of short-term water stress on raspberry

10.45: Break - Each presentation will be followed by 2-3 minutes to allow for questions

 

 

Session 2:Novel approaches to sustainable soft fruit production

11.00: Louisa Robinson-Boyer - Optimising raspberry propagation for improved plant uniformity

11.15: Mat Papp-Rupar - Recent developments in coir recycling and Phytophthora management

11.35: Sarah Arnold - Improving bee management and precision pollination in soft fruit

11.50: Celine Silva - The impact of landscape complexity on pest management in soft fruit

12.05: Francis Wamonje - Investigating biocontrol methods for large raspberry aphid under protection

12.20: Rachel Turner - Novel approach to managing earwigs in strawberry crops and advances in Probandz testing

12.35: Lunch break - Each presentation will be followed by 2-3 minutes to allow for question

 

Session 3: Developments in SWD control

13.15: Rob Moar - Sterile insect technique for SWD control in blackberry

13.30: Michelle Fountain - Adopting augmentoria to deliver parasitoids for SWD control

13.45: Adam Walker - Developing a push-pull approach to SWD management

14.00: Feli Fernandez - Screening strawberry and raspberry varieties for resistance to SWD

14.15 Close

 

 

That is all for this week

 

Take care

 

The English Apple Man