Autumn00
Kieran Lavelle, Top Fruit Development Adviser
Contents
- Benchmarking your Top Fruit Business
- Post-harvest Disease Control
- Fungicide Resistance
- Disposal of Apple Drench
- Training Events
The past two years have seen top fruit margins drop substantially. The importance of focusing on profit has never been greater.
Benchmarking
Benchmarking is a term widely used in businesses outside horticulture. It involves measuring costs and returns, comparing them to others and making improvements based on the results.
To make progress top fruit growers must have a target to aim for. Realistic ‘best-in-class’ benchmarks for Bramley’s Seedling orchards in Northern Ireland are given in the following table.
‘Best-in-class’ Benchmarks for Bramley’s Seedling Orchards in Northern Ireland
| Measurement | ‘Best-in-Class’ Benchmark |
|---|---|
| Marketable Yield (t/ha) | 25 |
| Production costs excluding overheads and picking (£/ha) | 650 |
| Picking costs (£/tonne) | 27 |
| Overheads excluding CA storage/ha | 550 |
There are wide variations in performance from farm to farm. For example production costs excluding overheads per hectare in 1999 ranged from £450 to £1275, indicating considerable scope for improvement on some farms.
The starting point for improving top fruit profitability is a detailed analysis of the most recent crop. Greenmount College has recently introduced the top fruit business computer program. Benchmarking results allows growers to set performance targets for their business and also to compare their performance against that of other growers.
Are your orchards producing a high yield (minimum 25 tonnes/ha) of quality fruit (minimum 70 mm size) on a regular basis with production costs and overheads of £1,200 per ha excluding picking costs?
If you are interested in benchmarking your top fruit business, contact Kieran Lavelle.
Overwintering Scab
This year scab has been a major problem again in some orchards and rainfall over the last few weeks has encouraged further scab development on leaves.
The main recommendation from Professor W McHardy’s presentation at the UFU/DARDNI Top Fruit Conference in spring 2000 to reduce the scab pressure in the springtime was sanitation of orchards post-harvest
Sanitation of orchards
1. Urea
- Application of Urea just before leaf fall to orchards where leaf and fruit scab were present this year will help to decompose the leaves and reduce the number of ascospores in the spring by 50 percent - 90 percent.
- Apply a foliar urea spray at up to 40kg/ha (38lbs/acre).
- Do not apply nitrogen to the ground now as it is less effective than foliar applied nitrogen and will be at great risk from leaching over the winter.
2. Shredding
- Shredding the leaf disrupts the male and female parts, preventing spore production and reducing their numbers by 50 percent minimum. For successful spore production ‘male’ and ‘female’ parts (mating types) have to be on the same leaf in contact. Shredding separates the male and female parts provided the shredding is effective and leaf debris is no larger than a 10 pence piece.
- Our damp mild winter should be conducive to leaf decomposition especially if earthworm populations are good.
With the use of Urea and leaf shredding, ascospore numbers can be reduced by up to 90 percent.
Summary
It is usually the same orchards that have high levels of scab every year.
Whilst fungicide use is effective in controlling fruit scab, leaf scab can multiply rapidly late in the season leading to high scab pressure at bud burst next year.
Growers should practice orchard sanitation to reduce the amount of overwintering scab on fallen leaves in the form of perithecia (the sexual stage of the fungus) which are the primary source of inoculum infecting new leaf tissue.
Topical Treatment of Apple Cankers
The most effective treatment of established apple cankers caused by Nectria galligena is the pruning out and removal of infected shoots and branches. However, if the canker is on the main stem or a large branch there may be benefit in treating it with a fungicidal paint, in order to save the tree.
There are few fungicidal paints approved for the treatment of existing cankers. Pancil T (octhilinone) can be applied after harvest but before bud burst. The effectiveness of fungicidal canker paints is greatly enhanced by scraping away the diseased tissue until healthy wood is exposed. The paint should then be applied evenly over the wound, making sure that it extends well beyond the area of the cut. Pancil T must be applied in dry conditions to permit the paint to dry into the wound and will not be as effective if used at very low temperatures.
Treatment of cankers with fungicidal paints is time-consuming and can be regarded as a last resort. It is essential to maintain good canker control by ongoing disease control strategies. These will include pruning out and removal of cankers in the winter and maintaining an effective scab control programme throughout the summer. If apple canker is a problem in the orchard then the application of copper fungicides at 5 and 50 percent leaf fall will greatly reduce the spread of the pathogen to new infection sites. Apply a recommended copper spray (e.g. Cuprokylt, 10kg/ha/900 litres or 5 lbs/acre/100 gallons of water). Apply sprays at high volume to ensure thorough wetting of the wood.
FRAG-UK (Fungicide Resistance Action Group), formed in 1995, consists of UK-based groups of experts from the British Agrochemical Association (BAA), member companies and independent organisations. FRAG-UK aims to gather and interpret information on fungicide resistance and its management and arrive at a UK consensus view. Enclosed is FRAG-UK’s publication on "Fungicide Resistance in Apple and Pear Pathogens". The information is derived from UK research results and much of it is not readily available elsewhere. Growers are urged to consult its guidelines when deciding on fungicide programmes both for orchard use and post-harvest.
The FRAG-UK’s Internet home page is hosted by NIAB at http://www.niab.com and the Apple and Pear Guidelines can also be accessed through this home page.
Post harvest drenching of apples prior to storage in Controlled Atmosphere stores is recommended to control storage diseases such as scald and fungal rots.
All pesticides including fungicides are by nature toxic substances and if they enter a watercourse can have devastating effects on river life and water supply.
Careful storage, handling, application and disposal of all pesticides are essential if water pollution is to be avoided.
At this time of the year spent apple drench requires safe disposal to minimise the risk of water pollution. Spent drench should never be allowed to directly enter a watercourse.
The main disposal method used is land spreading. The Groundwater Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1998 requires that authorisation is required prior to the disposal of any waste pesticides by land spreading.
If you have not already applied for authorisation contact the Environment and Heritage Service of the Department of the Environment as soon as possible on
028 90254831.
028 90254831.
Where no suitable land is available for land spreading waste drench should be stored in a container for collection and disposal by a specialist waste contractor.
We are pleased to offer the following courses to help you improve the knowledge and skills of you and your staff.
If your require any further information on any of these courses please contact me at telephone no. Armagh 02837 515651 or 07899818645
Horticultural Management: The Balance Sheet
What is your business worth?
What is this Course about? Managing Your Business Better.
This course will help you to assess the financial stability of your horticultural business and allow you to make better management decisions.
Who Should Attend? All Horticultural business owners and staff involved in business management.
Date: Two evenings in November Tuesday, 7 November and Tuesday, 14 November
Time: 7.30 – 10.30 pm
Location: Greenmount College, Manor Suite
(Please park in student car park opposite Glasshouse Unit).
Course Presenter: Mr Steven Millar, Senior Business Technologist.
Key Benefits/Skills:
At the end of the course you will be able to:-
- Value business assets.
- Prepare and interpret a Balance Sheet
- Calculate Net Worth and key ratios.
- Assess the impact of management decisions.
If you have any queries, please tel. Armagh 028 3751 5651 or mobile 07899 818645
Control of Pesticide Regulations
As current legislation stands any person who is applying a pesticide in an agricultural or horticultural situation must hold the relevant pesticide application certificates. There is an exception allowed for persons born before 31 December 1964 who are applying pesticides to their own crops. However, this exception is becoming less important as the various quality assurance schemes for each sector are asking all associated farmers and growers to hold pesticide application certificates.
The modules required for the orchard sprayer are PA1 (Safe use and handling of Pesticides) and PA3 (Maintenance and operation of air-assisted sprayer).
PA1
is background to spraying and covers legislation, interpretation of the product label, personal safety, pesticide stores, disposal and record keeping.
is background to spraying and covers legislation, interpretation of the product label, personal safety, pesticide stores, disposal and record keeping.
PA3
covers the maintenance, calibration and operation of the orchard sprayer.
covers the maintenance, calibration and operation of the orchard sprayer.
Training days for both PA1 and PA3 can be arranged through Kieran Lavelle and each module is tested (one to one orally) on a separate occasion. Application forms are enclosed. The person who regularly applies pesticides on your holding should complete the application form to take advantage of this training.
Costs – Training
Assessment Schedule - £29
Training for PA1 and PA3 (farmers & growers) - free
Training for PA1 and PA3 (farmers & growers) - free
Costs – Assessment
PA1 assessment £31
PA3 assessment £62
PA3 assessment £62
There are no further costs, as the assessment schedule fee will cover the cost of the certificates
Further courses and assessments can be taken to cover other types of sprayer such as the field crop sprayer (PA2A) and the knapsack sprayer (PA6A)
Applicants should complete PA1 training and assessment before commencing PA3 training.
