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News
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ef
r
uitg
r
owe
r
.co.uk
ThE FrUITGrOWEr •MArCh 2017
T
h
e adoption of f
r
uit walls in place of t
r
aditional o
r
c
h
a
r
d
systems, couldmake t
h
emec
h
anical p
r
uningof apple t
r
ees
easie
r
fo
r
g
r
owe
r
s and
h
elp to
r
educe costs, AhDBho
r
ticultu
r
e
r
esea
r
c
h
finds.
Unce
r
tainties about t
h
e f
r
uit indust
r
y’s ability to sou
r
ce
seasonal wo
r
ke
r
s followingB
r
exit, and an inc
r
ease in labou
r
costs, means t
h
at t
h
e
r
e’s a s
h
a
r
pe
r
focus t
h
an eve
r
on finding
ways tomitigate t
h
e indust
r
y’s
r
eliance on labou
r
. Mode
r
n
intensive o
r
c
h
a
r
ds a
r
e al
r
eady simple
r
and easie
r
top
r
une t
h
an
t
r
aditionally planted ones but it can still take between 25 and
40
h
ou
r
s/
h
a of labou
r
.Wit
h
f
r
uit walls, mec
h
anical p
r
uning
wo
r
k
r
ates va
r
y between 1.5 and2.5
h
ou
r
s/
h
a so, even t
h
oug
h
some
h
and-p
r
uningwill be needed, t
h
e
r
e is potential to save
a
r
ound £3,000/
h
a ove
r
an o
r
c
h
a
r
d’s 15-yea
r
life.
Ma
r
kholden of Ad
r
ianSc
r
ipps Ltd and an indust
r
y
r
ep
r
esentative fo
r
t
h
e p
r
oject, said: “T
h
e cost of labou
r
is
inevitability inc
r
easingdue to
r
ises in t
h
eminimumwage. Also,
t
h
e
r
e is a potential s
h
o
r
tage of a qualitywo
r
kfo
r
ce in t
h
e futu
r
e,
t
h
e
r
efo
r
e I am keen to explo
r
e
h
owwe can get t
h
e best f
r
om
mec
h
anisation”. Anot
h
e
r
key ta
r
get is to imp
r
ove t
h
e
consistency andquality of t
h
e f
r
uit f
r
om t
r
ee to t
r
ee in t
h
e
o
r
c
h
a
r
ds. Mec
h
anical p
r
uningwas identified as, potentially, one
way to ac
h
ieve bot
h
t
h
ese goals.
AhDBho
r
ticultu
r
e
h
as spent t
h
e last fou
r
yea
r
s investigating
t
h
e t
r
ee types andp
r
uning
r
egimesmost suitable fo
r
use in f
r
uit
walls in t
h
eUK in twop
r
ojects. recommendations
h
ave been
gene
r
ated f
r
omone of t
h
e p
r
ojects about p
r
uning timing fo
r
g
r
owe
r
sw
h
o a
r
ewo
r
kingwit
h
f
r
uit walls and include t
h
e
following:
In st
r
ongly g
r
owingo
r
c
h
a
r
ds, andw
h
e
r
e t
r
ee vigou
r
cont
r
ol is
impo
r
tant, it couldbe bette
r
todelaymec
h
anical p
r
uning to t
h
e
nine- o
r
12-leaf stage.W
h
e
r
e limited
r
e-g
r
owt
h
and imp
r
oved
f
r
uit bud fo
r
mation a
r
e
r
equi
r
ed, p
r
uning at t
h
e nine-leaf stage
appea
r
s tobe best.W
h
e
r
e t
r
ees a
r
e not vigo
r
ous and a
r
e in
balance, p
r
uning at pink-budmay benefit f
r
uit size and suga
r
content – but t
h
iswill encou
r
agemo
r
e g
r
owt
h
. “T
h
e
r
esults
h
ave demonst
r
ated t
h
at t
h
e
r
e is a place fo
r
mec
h
anical
p
r
uning, but as a complement to, and not a substitute fo
r
,
h
andp
r
uning. T
h
e decisions onmec
h
anical p
r
uningmust also
r
eflect t
h
e g
r
owing season andwill need tobe ta
r
geted on
ce
r
tain va
r
ieties and app
r
op
r
iate o
r
c
h
a
r
ds to
h
ave t
h
emost
benefit,” addedMa
r
kholden.
Scott raffle, KnowledgeExc
h
angeManage
r
at AhDB
ho
r
ticultu
r
e, said: “resea
r
c
h
intomec
h
anising apple
p
r
oduction is just one of t
h
eways inw
h
ic
h
AhDB is suppo
r
ting
p
r
ojects t
h
at p
r
omote innovation in
h
o
r
ticultu
r
e to
h
elpou
r
g
r
owe
r
s
r
emain competitive. T
h
e
r
esults f
r
om t
h
ese p
r
ojects
could
h
ave a
r
eally positive impact on f
r
uit g
r
owe
r
s”.
6
Mec
h
anising t
h
e futu
r
e of apple g
r
owing
NewEu
r
opean link establis
h
ed fo
r
t
h
e supply of f
r
uit t
r
ees
In t
h
e 25 yea
r
s sinceWilliamSeab
r
ook ceased t
r
ading as a t
r
ee
nu
r
se
r
y,
h
e
h
as built up a business
r
elations
h
ipwit
h
Eu
r
opean
nu
r
se
r
ymenBotden& vanWillegen, andBas van denBoom
pa
r
ticula
r
ly. Now t
h
atWilliam
h
as
r
eti
r
ed, Botden& vanWillegen
h
as
fo
r
ged a new
r
elations
h
ipwit
h
F
r
ankP. Matt
h
ews Ltdof Tenbu
r
y
Wells.
F
r
ankP. Matt
h
ew’sManagingDi
r
ecto
r
, NickDunn,
h
as pointed out
t
h
at bot
h
businesses
h
ave simila
r
et
h
ics, wit
h
custome
r
ca
r
e and
f
r
iendly advice, and t
h
e supply of
h
ig
h
quality nu
r
se
r
y t
r
ees, being
h
ig
h
on t
h
e agenda. T
h
e new alliance p
r
ovides fo
r
bot
h
to s
h
a
r
e
p
r
opagating skills, longstanding links tob
r
eedingp
r
og
r
ammes
wo
r
ldwide, and access to a po
r
tfolio of B
r
itis
h
cide
r
apple va
r
ieties.
Eac
h
h
as a substantial database of g
r
owe
r
contacts inB
r
itain and
Eu
r
ope, andbot
h
a
r
e family businesses goingbackmany yea
r
s and
h
ave a detailed unde
r
standing of t
h
eUK’s indust
r
y,
r
ecognising t
h
at
t
r
ee quality andp
r
ice p
r
evail in a ve
r
y competitivema
r
ketplace.
