17
F
Tec
h
nical Semina
r
F
is investing in newwa
y
s of
h
elping its o
r
c
h
a
r
ds stand up to
pests, diseases andot
h
e
r
fo
r
ms of st
r
ess. Ag
r
ovista is
launc
h
ing a new se
r
vice in Fe
br
ua
ry
w
h
e
r
e
by
g
r
owe
r
s can
inoculate t
h
ei
r
existing o
r
c
h
a
r
dswit
h
an a
rb
uscula
r
m
y
co
rrh
izal
fungi-
b
asedp
r
oduct, Plantwo
r
ks’ rGP
r
o.
Ag
r
ovista ag
r
onomist Tom Jo
h
nson
r
evealed t
h
at t
h
e se
r
vice
h
as
b
een set up following seve
r
al enqui
r
ies f
r
om g
r
owe
r
sw
h
o
we
r
e inte
r
ested in findingout
h
ow to use t
h
e p
r
oduct on t
h
ei
r
existing t
r
ees. he
r
eminded g
r
owe
r
s t
h
atm
y
co
rrh
izal fungi
fo
r
m a s
y
m
b
iotic
r
elations
h
ipwit
h
plants, colonising t
h
ei
r
r
oots
and inc
r
easing t
h
ei
r
r
oot uptake a
r
ea
by
700 times. T
h
is
ena
b
les t
h
em to
b
ette
r
a
b
so
rb
nut
r
ients andwate
r
, and
h
elps
t
h
e t
r
ees to
b
ette
r
copewit
h
st
r
esses suc
h
as d
r
oug
h
t, wate
r
logging andplant pat
h
ogens.
Tom
h
as innovativel
y
fitted aStocks Agroto
r
Mete
r
–
t
y
picall
y
used toplace g
r
anules, slugpellets o
r
fe
r
tilise
r
s into
t
h
e field – to a
r
oot-p
r
une
r b
lade to c
r
eate a newdevice. T
h
e
new s
y
stem ena
b
lesrGP
r
o to
b
e inse
r
ted close to t
h
e small
fi
br
ous
r
oots of t
h
e t
r
ees, 15-20cm into t
h
e soil. Loddington
Fa
r
m Ltd inKent will
b
e ca
rry
ing out t
h
ewo
r
k as a cont
r
acted
se
r
vice t
h
at will ope
r
ate at a speed of app
r
oximatel
y
one
h
a/
h
ou
r
, said Tom. he added t
h
at t
h
e t
r
ees could also
b
e
r
oot-
p
r
uned at t
h
e same time and t
h
at Janua
ry
toMa
r
c
h
is t
h
e
b
est
time inw
h
ic
h
to ca
rry
out t
h
e activit
y
. G
r
owe
r
sw
h
o a
r
e
inte
r
ested in t
h
e se
r
vice s
h
ould, in t
h
e fi
r
st instance, contact
t
h
ei
r
local Ag
r
ovista ag
r
onomist.
Canker
rGP
r
o is also one of seve
r
al
b
iological soil amendments t
h
at
a
r
e
b
eing t
r
ialled
by
scientists at NIAbEMr as pa
r
t of t
h
e five-
y
ea
r
, AhDbho
r
ticultu
r
e TF 223p
r
oject – a ke
y
focus of w
h
ic
h
is t
h
e development of an IPM st
r
ateg
y
fo
r
apple canke
r
. D
r
ro
b
e
r
t Saville explained t
h
at rGP
r
o andp
r
oducts suc
h
as
plant-g
r
owt
h
-p
r
omoting
rh
izo
b
acte
r
ia and t
r
ic
h
ode
r
ma a
r
e
b
eing evaluated fo
r
t
h
ei
r
effect onNect
r
ia (canke
r
). he said:
“We a
r
e doing t
h
is in two stages – t
h
e nu
r
se
ry
p
h
ase and t
h
e
newl
y
-esta
b
lis
h
ed
o
r
c
h
a
r
dp
h
ase.”
A stool-
b
ed
h
as
t
h
e
r
efo
r
e
b
een set up
at NIAbEMr, w
h
e
r
e
t
h
e diffe
r
ent soil
amendments
h
ave
b
een used on diffe
r
ent
plots at t
h
e planting
stage. T
h
e
r
esea
r
c
h
e
r
s
h
ave, said
ro
b
e
r
t,
b
een going
t
hr
oug
h
a c
y
cle of
g
r
owing and cutting
down t
h
e plants to
esta
b
lis
h
t
h
e stool
f
r
omw
h
ic
h
t
h
e
r
ootstockswill
b
e
p
r
oduced. T
h
e
r
ootstocks a
r
e
b
eing
h
a
r
vested t
h
is
y
ea
r
and
will t
h
en
b
e assessed to see
h
owwell eac
h
soil amendment
wo
r
ks against canke
r
. T
h
e newl
y
-esta
b
lis
h
ed o
r
c
h
a
r
dp
h
ase
sawNIAbEMrwo
r
kwit
h
Wo
r
ldwide F
r
uit andAvalon
P
r
oduce late last
y
ea
r
to set up t
r
ials using canke
r
-suscepti
b
le
va
r
ieties on two sites t
h
at a
r
e p
r
one to canke
r
. ro
b
e
r
t said:
“T
h
e
y
will
b
e assessed fo
r
canke
r
infection du
r
ing t
h
e
esta
b
lis
h
edp
h
ase.”
Plums
Impo
r
tedplums can often
b
e a disappointment - t
h
e novelt
y
of t
h
ei
r
good looks disappea
r
s once people take a
b
ite. Fo
r
t
h
is
r
eason, f
r
uit consultant Leon Ja
h
ae is investigatingw
h
ic
h
plum va
r
ieties could
b
e g
r
own in t
h
eUK to
r
eplace t
h
ese
impo
r
ts. Leon explained: “T
h
e
r
e’s a lot of poo
r
qualit
y
f
r
uit
[plums] availa
b
le, and t
h
at’s often todowit
h
h
a
r
vesting times.
T
h
e
y
get picked ea
r
l
y
and s
h
ipped fo
r
longdistances, and fo
r
a
lot of ma
r
keting o
r
ganisations o
r
r
etaile
r
s, s
h
elf-life ismo
r
e
impo
r
tant at t
h
at stage t
h
an t
h
e flavou
r
o
r
eating expe
r
ience.”
he noted, fo
r
example, t
h
at Japanese plums look
b
eautiful
b
ecause t
h
e
y b
oast nice colou
r
s and s
h
ape,
b
ut oftenw
h
en
y
ou
b
u
y
t
h
em it’s a disappointment. T
h
e
y
get picked
b
ecause
of t
h
ei
r
looks and not t
h
ei
r
eatingqualit
y
.
And so, despite plumg
r
owing cu
rr
entl
y b
eing in decline in
t
h
eUK, Leon Ja
h
ae
h
opes t
h
at soonb
r
itis
h
-g
r
own plums
could su
b
stitute plums andot
h
e
r
impo
r
ted f
r
uits suc
h
as
ap
r
icots, peac
h
es and necta
r
ines. Leon
r
evealed t
h
at, as “we
a
r
e notmaking t
h
emost of t
h
e geneticmate
r
ial t
h
at’s
availa
b
le,” a couple of
y
ea
r
s ago
h
e
b
egan looking intoplums
f
r
omdiffe
r
ent Eu
r
opean count
r
ies – includingGe
r
man
y
, Ital
y
andromania. T
h
e c
r
ite
r
ia
h
e looked fo
r
includedw
h
et
h
e
r
a
va
r
iet
y
is split tole
r
ant o
r
r
esistant, disease and vi
r
us tole
r
ant,
h
as an a
b
ilit
y
top
r
oduce goodqualit
y
y
ields and
h
as a good
s
h
elf-life.
Leon also explained t
h
at t
h
e plums
h
e
h
as
b
een looking at
fall into t
hr
ee catego
r
ies:
ThE FrUITGrOWEr •
FEbrUAry 2017
ef
r
uitg
r
owe
r
.co.uk
