•
LEAFY SALADS CONFERENCE
•
THE
VEGETABLE
FARMER •
MARCH 2017
“The UK is behind the curve in
this area.”
Tim explained that one of
the greatest potential benefits
of biologicals is their role in
resistancemanagement,
somethingwhich is not
always highlighted in
discussions. “They lead us
towards a process where we
think less about products and
more about broader solutions.
Somethingwe call Integrated
Crop Solutions at Bayer.”
The successful use of
biologicals can require a
change in attitude from
growers. For example, they
generally provide less control
in terms of numbers than
conventional chemistry, but if
used carefully, levels can be
sufficient for economic
production. “Remember that
it’s about population
management: keeping pest
populations down below the
thresholdwhere they might
cause damage,” he continued.
Pest damage was also the
subject of Rosemary Collier’s
presentation, withmoths and
Silver Ymoth, being a
particular focus. The large
number of Silver Ymoths seen
at the Euro 2016 football
finals in Paris in 2016 failed to
appear across the channel,
but in other years they have
been a significant issue. The
other main caterpillar pests of
leafy salad crops are
Diamond-back moth (which
affects brassicas) and turnip
moth (cutworm).
She provided an overview of
AHDB project FV 440, which
is focusing on pest
Lepidoptera and their
monitoring and control.
“Silver Y is a sporadic pest
which behaves likemigrant
birds,” Rosemary explained.
“They fly in throughout the
summer and there is no
evidence that they arrive
earlier in one part of the
country than another.”
In answer to a question
from the floor, Rosemary also
said that there had not yet
been any evidence of
pyrethroid resistance in Silver
Ymoth. “We’ve been testing
the same insecticides and
biopesticides and there are
differences in susceptibility
between Silver Y and
Diamond-back moths.”
Variation is a key issue for
salad growers and Yara
Boubou of Harper Adams
University College described
her work investigating the
origins of infield variation
between lettuce plants.
“Lettuce is produced from
transplants grown from
genetically identical seed,” she
pointed out. “The target is to
harvest it in a single pass with
at least 80 per cent harvested.
Heads which are over or
under sized result in
wastage.”
One finding has been that
there are clear differences
between the size of
transplants on the outside
and inside of the tray.
Although this has not been an
area she has pursued, she said
that some growers are already
using this information to see
how they can improve
planting consistency. “A two
gram difference in size at this
early stage became a ten
gram difference after 14 days,
at which point you can see
differences in the field,” Yara
explained.
Another key issue was
placement of transplants, with
modules planted on their side,
below or above the soil
surface all showing significant
numbers of misshapen heads
and reduced headweights
once trimmed.
Downy mildew is one of the
key diseases of spinach and
while recent developments in
breeding havemade
resistance genes available to
growers, themany different
combinations add complexity.
Sierra Hartney is a Plant
Pathologist with Sakata Seed
America. She provided an
overview of the genetic basis
of downy mildew resistance
and explained how it can be
managed to best effect.
The joint brassica and salad
session in the afternoon
focused on commercial factors
andwas chaired by Brassica
Growers Association chairman
Matthew Rawson, who
described himself as “a part
time sprout grower from the
East Riding of Yorkshire.” He
oversaw themost entertaining
session, including a whirlwind
tour of the current world
economic and political
situation by Justin Urquhart
Stewart. Well known for his
appearances on television, Mr
Urquhart Stewart is co-
founder and Head of
Corporate Development at
Seven Investment
Management. Stressing that
everyone needed to
spendmore time
looking at their
own business and
personal finances,
he told his
audience: “Your
industry is vital to
all of us. People are
eating better,
fresher stuff and
you are in exactly
the right place. You
are also important
employers with
employees paying
tax.”
Mr Urquhart
Stewart covered a
range of topics,
including Trump, Brexit and
Russia, often turning
perceivedwisdom on its head.
“The reality is that the global
economy is doing quite well,”
he stressed. “The UK is the
fifth largest economy in the
world, the eighth largest
manufacturer and the tenth
largest exporter. The value of
our economy per head of
population is bigger than
Germany’s and as a nationwe
are setting upmore new
businesses than Germany,
France or the United States.”
However, he
warned that access
to finance was vital
to continue this
growth: “If people
lose confidence we
will have to spend
more financing our
debt.” He concluded
with another
positivemessage for
farmers and
growers: “People’s
attitudes are
changing and they
will buy quality, but
you have to tell
them that
something is
quality.”
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Yara BouBou fromHarper Adams.
BGA ChairmanMatthew Rawson
chaired the afternoon session.
Justin Urquhart Stewart.
It was left to BLSA Vice Chairman Charlie Kisby to
close the conference.
