F
Cide
r
Apple Semina
r
F
ef
r
uitg
r
owe
r
.co.uk
ThE FrUITGrOWEr •MArCh 2017
woolly ap
h
id andot
h
e
r
pests. T
h
e use of a b
r
oad-
spect
r
ump
r
oduct is no
longe
r
an easy option.
One positive aspect of
t
h
is situation t
h
at
h
as
eme
r
ged is t
h
e
r
ecognition
of t
h
e
r
ole of beneficial
insects - identifying t
h
em
and t
h
en p
r
otecting t
h
em
wit
h
an app
r
op
r
iate c
h
oice
of pesticides.W
h
ilst
g
r
owe
r
s a
r
e familia
r
wit
h
t
h
e adult ladybi
r
d, it is t
h
e
la
r
vae, not t
h
e adults, t
h
at
a
r
e t
h
emost effective fo
r
cont
r
ollingpests du
r
ing
ea
r
ly sp
r
ing. Lacewing la
r
vae consume ap
h
ids andmites, and
pa
r
asiticwasps lay t
h
ei
r
eggs in ap
h
id colonies and a
r
e
consumedw
h
en t
h
e la
r
vae
h
atc
h
. T
h
e adult
h
ove
r
fly and its
la
r
vae eat ap
h
ids and t
h
e adult pi
r
ate bugdest
r
oys cate
r
pilla
r
s.
But, by fa
r
t
h
emost beneficial insect is t
h
e ea
r
wig t
h
at offe
r
s
t
h
emost effective cont
r
ol of woolly ap
h
id. It is in g
r
owe
r
s’
inte
r
ests top
r
ovide natu
r
al winte
r
h
abitats fo
r
ea
r
wigs. T
h
ese
a
r
e inexpensive and can be as simple as
r
olls of co
rr
ugated
ca
r
dboa
r
d, bottles stuffedwit
h
st
r
awo
r
plastic
r
abbit gua
r
ds
a
r
ound t
r
unks of t
r
ees. T
h
e c
h
oice of pesticidemust be to t
h
e
benefit of t
h
e beneficial insects.
Paul Bennett explained t
h
e ‘t
r
affic lig
h
t’ system adoptedby
Ag
r
ovista adviso
r
s. P
r
oducts in t
h
e ‘red’ catego
r
y, alt
h
oug
h
app
r
oved fo
r
use, a
r
e b
r
oad-spect
r
um and tend tobe
h
a
r
mful
tobeneficial insects, ‘Ambe
r
’ p
r
oducts a
r
e p
r
efe
rr
ed to t
h
ose in
t
h
e ‘red’ catego
r
y and ‘G
r
een’ p
r
oducts a
r
e t
h
e safest,
h
aving
t
h
e least
h
a
r
mful effects on beneficial insects. T
h
e use of a
b
r
oad-spect
r
um insecticide does not cost less and is likely to
r
esult in an inc
r
ease in pests due to t
h
e damage caused to
beneficial populations. Paul also advised c
h
ecking t
h
e ph of
t
h
ewate
r
w
h
en applyingpesticides and, w
h
e
r
e necessa
r
y, t
h
e
ph can be lowe
r
edwit
h
awate
r
conditione
r
.
What next?
Neil Macdonald
f
r
omSome
r
set, w
h
o
is aNuffieldSc
h
ola
r
and an apple g
r
owe
r
and cide
r
make
r
,
began
h
is add
r
ess
by saying t
h
at t
h
e
B
r
itis
h
cide
r
indust
r
y
h
admuc
h
in its
favou
r
including
climate, bitte
r
-sweet
va
r
ieties, a
h
isto
r
y of cide
r
making and t
h
e ‘B
r
itis
h
’ b
r
and. But,
evenwit
h
t
h
ese advantages t
h
e
r
e a
r
e c
h
allenges on t
h
e
h
o
r
izon,
not least of w
h
ic
h
is a su
r
plus of UKp
r
oduction and t
h
e t
hr
eat of
c
h
eap impo
r
ted juice.
Neil’s sc
h
ola
r
s
h
ip, to study t
h
e g
r
owing of apples,
r
esea
r
c
h
and t
h
emakingof cide
r
a
r
ound t
h
ewo
r
ld, was sponso
r
edby t
h
e
Wo
r
s
h
ipful Company of F
r
uite
r
e
r
s. Desse
r
t apples a
r
e c
h
iefly
g
r
own in tempe
r
ate a
r
eas of t
h
ewo
r
ld, wit
h
C
h
ina being t
h
e
wo
r
lds la
r
gest p
r
oduce
r
atmo
r
e t
h
an 37million tonnes. T
h
eUK
is
r
anked 41st in t
h
ewo
r
ldwit
h
202,900 tonnes. Bitte
r
-sweet
(cide
r
) apples a
r
e only g
r
own in t
h
eUK, F
r
ance andSpain, jointly
p
r
oducing about 500,000 tonnes. T
h
eB
r
itis
h
population
consumes 14 lit
r
es of cide
r
pe
r
h
eadpe
r
annum, but t
h
e fastest
g
r
owingma
r
ket is t
h
eCzec
h
republic, albeit f
r
om a ve
r
y low
sta
r
tingpoint. T
h
ema
r
ket in t
h
eUSA is staticwit
h
most of t
h
e
cide
r
beingp
r
oducedby c
r
aftmake
r
s in t
h
e no
r
t
h
e
r
n states.
howeve
r
, most cide
r
is consumed in statesw
h
e
r
e apples a
r
e not
g
r
own, wit
h
t
h
e
h
ig
h
est consumption being in Texas. In F
r
ance,
t
h
e cide
r
indust
r
y is in decline, due topolitics and t
h
e stifling of
innovation. T
h
e
r
e is somema
r
ket g
r
owt
h
inAust
r
alia andSout
h
Af
r
ica. As a g
r
owe
r
, Neil
h
ad looked topu
r
c
h
ase land in anot
h
e
r
count
r
y tog
r
ow apples andp
r
oduce cide
r
, but concluded t
h
at
wit
h
ou
r
climate, cultu
r
e, cont
r
acts, inf
r
ast
r
uctu
r
e andpolitics,
t
h
eUKwas t
h
e best place.
Looking to t
h
e futu
r
e andplanning fo
r
t
h
e next gene
r
ation, in
t
h
eUKg
r
owe
r
s a
r
ewell placed to
r
espond to t
h
e c
h
anging
demands of t
h
e cide
r
indust
r
y. G
r
owe
r
smust question
h
ow t
h
ey
manage t
h
ei
r
dependence on ag
r
oc
h
emicals – consume
r
s do
not want f
r
uit tobe sp
r
ayedwit
h
pesticides.Wemust
acknowledge t
h
at UKp
r
oduction is in ove
r
-supply, but t
h
e good
news is t
h
at demandwo
r
ldwide is
r
ising.Wemust develop new
expo
r
tma
r
kets and t
h
esemay not necessa
r
ily be as bottled
cide
r
. O
r
c
h
a
r
dsmust be futu
r
e-p
r
oofedby
r
ecognising t
h
at, as
t
h
ema
r
ket c
h
anges, some of ou
r
cu
rr
ent va
r
ietiesmay not be fit
fo
r
pu
r
pose; newplantingsmust allow fo
r
automationwit
h
new
tec
h
nology, including
r
obotics.
Eve
r
y g
r
owe
r
s
h
ould view t
h
ei
r
o
r
c
h
a
r
d as a pe
r
manent
expe
r
iment, t
r
ying and testingw
h
at wo
r
ks best fo
r
t
h
emwit
h
t
h
ei
r
va
r
ieties, soil-type andweat
h
e
r
conditions. T
h
eUK cide
r
indust
r
y is
r
obust, but to su
r
vive it needs
r
esea
r
c
h
and
development t
h
at couldbe fundedby a levy collectedby AhDB.
◆
24
ontiaver esprciegtaStr
ss mne fir
and ses hnesFr
tyibil xi
Fle
om.c
.jannymt
www
ANCE
MTFR
ANNY J
ables teegV
-serwFlo
Fruits
-
ooms
shr Mu
ja
T
y
t@jann
nymn
523 38 : +33
él
mcot.m
20
96
