The BAPL Niab Apples & Pears Technical Day Apple held at the NIAB EMR Mumford Building at East Malling on Monday 10th February was very informative and also very enjoyable, as the group of presenters eloquently delivered a fascinating insight into the science and technology becoming available to our apple & pear industry.
Welcoming attendees present at NIAB and via ZOOM were Ali Capper Chief Executive BAPL, NIAB Chief Executive Professor Mario Caccamo, (Hutchinsons Agronomist) Rob Saunders in his capacity as Chair of the BAPL R&D Group, Scott Raffle Senior Knowledge Exchange Manager - East Malling and Rachel McGauley, BAPL who took the lead introducing the day's speakers.
Ambition
Our ambition is for at least 60% of apples sold in the UK to be British by 2035. Today, British apples represent less than 40% of all apples sold in the UK, despite being our national fruit.
Activities
BAPL activities include industry representation, government liaison, data gathering and consumer awareness raising and promotion. The organisation also funds much-needed research and development to protect our wonderful crop. View our latest news articles for more.
British Apples & Pears is also part of Horticulture Crop Protection (HCP) Limited, which is a collaboration between all major horticulture crop associations.
British Apples & Pears Technical Day
"With so much detail in the meeting, The English Apple Man will spread reporting over a few weeks, trying to do justice to each subject.
"However; Rob Saunders and Ali Capper were both anxious to share an excellent video demonstrating how the use of Biochar can sequester the Carbon in the atmosphere into the apple trees system, and lock it up for the lifetime tree/orchard. But in the past it has been standard practice, when an orchard's life comes to an end; that the grubbing process results in a big bonfire in the middle of the now empty orchard, releasing maybe 20-30 years of carbon back into the atmosphere!
Using the Biochar method of turning all that wood and carbon into charcoal is a 'win, win' situation!
Click on: Biochar Video
What is biochar?
'Biochar' is a catch-all term describing any organic material that has been carbonised under high temperatures (300-1000oC), in the presence of little, or no oxygen. This process (called 'pyrolysis') releases bio-oils plus gases and leaves a solid residue of at least 80% elemental carbon which is termed biochar.
Biochar is a form of charcoal, sometimes modified, that is intended for organic use, as in soil. It is the lightweight black remnants remaining after the pyrolysis of biomass, consisting of carbon and ashes. Despite its name, biochar is sterile immediately after production and only gains biological life following assisted or incidental exposure to biota. Biochar is defined by the International Biochar Initiative as the "solid material obtained from the thermochemical conversion of biomass in an oxygen-limited environment".
Below: Attendees at the BAPL Niab Apple Technical Day
Below the Agenda which The English Apple Man will explore in future weekly Journals
09:45 Arrive and coffee
10:10 Welcome
10:15 Overview of how BAPL research is supporting apple and pear growers (Rachel McGauley, BAPL,
10:25 Novel approaches to managing and controlling apple canker (Louisa Robinson-Boyer and Matevz Papp-Rupar, Niab)
10:55 Biochar research; our contribution to net-zero; (Rob Saunders, Hutchinsons)
11:10 Comfort break
11:20 The value of measuring carbon and natural capital (Louise Rix, Trinity Agtech)
11:30 Growing Green; helping growers in Kent and Medway in their journey to; net zero (Flora O'Brien, Niab)
11:35 Evaluating commercial IPM strategies for sustainable codling moth control in apples (Jonathan Blackman, Hutchinsons)
11:50 Addressing the increasing damage caused by woodlice (Rory Jones, ADAS and Nigel Jenner, Avalon Fresh)
12:10 How Horticulture Crop Protection Ltd is supporting the apple and pear sector (Simon Conway and Carlos Duarte, HCP Ltd)
12:30 Lunch
14:00 Forest bug control; a grower case study (Paul Hamlyn, ACH Farming and Alex Radu, Agrovista)
14:15 Brown marmorated stink bug up-date and future management (Francis Wamonje, Niab)
14:30 The challenge of controlling hard bodied pests in apples and pears (David Hall, University of Greenwich)
14:45 The impact of wildflower resources on rosy apple aphid control (Charlotte Howard, University of Reading)
14:55 Comfort break
15:05 POME: Precision orchard management for the environment (Charles Whitfield, Niab)
15:20 Moving towards whole orchard pest and disease management; an ecosystem approach (Michelle Fountain, Niab)
15:35 Improving low-oxygen storage of Gala apples (Richard Colgan, University of Greenwich)
15:50 Close
That is all for this week
Take care
The English Apple Man