Annual specialist event celebrates latest technical advancements

The annual NIAB Tree Fruit Day online event offered no shortage of exciting announcements from the eld of top fruit research, with precision spraying, pest and disease control, and ecosystem services featuring among the highlights.

The webinar, led by NIAB knowledge exchange manager Scott Ra e, o ered a wealth of information for both pome and stone fruit growers on new and improved orchard management strategies with the potential to build resilience and sustainability, increase production, and reduce input costs.

Dr Charles Whit eld, NIAB senior specialist in crop protection, spoke about the development of a new precision dosing orchard sprayer.

He explained good spray application is about applying the correct amount of active ingredient onto the target while minimising drift, which is di cult to achieve when treating orchards as a uniform target. Hence, a di erent approach is needed, and Dr Whit eld believes the answer lies in variable rate spraying (VRS).

VRS has the potential to reduce input costs and improve crop management, leading to better yields and reduced environmental impact. While orchards may appear uniform to the naked eye, there is substantial (3 to 5-fold) variation in many aspects of the crop, particularly in canopy density of individual trees, he pointed out.

To create spray prescription maps on which to base a precision spraying program, drones can be used for row and tree detection, alongside LiDAR sensors that can measure canopy structure and density.

The data is then fed into the spray machine control software, which calculates spray output values from imported canopy density and blossom density. Subsequently, a prescription map is created with a tailored dose for each tree in the orchard, Dr Whit eld explained.

He introduced a high-precision VRS machine, developed by NP Seymour and The Acclaimed Software Company, which is essentially a KWH tower spray machine tted with BBLeap’s PWMnozzles and control system. During spraying, nozzle output is adjusted according to the prescription map and the spray machine’s GPS position.

On-farm trials of the system have shown large improvements in spray deposition distribution compared to conventional spray machine, Dr Whit eld said, enabling growers to substantially reduce input costs and maximise the percentage of Class 1 fruit per tree.

Providing updates on the detection and prediction of internal browning in apples, Dr Richard Colgan from the University of Greenwich presented his latest work in the eld of post-harvest technology.

According to Dr Colgan, internal browning is mostly an issue in varieties like Braeburn and Bramley, and includes conditions such as core ush, internal CO2 injury, Braeburn browning disorder and di use browning. Causes can vary