With 500 delegates, coming from 25 different countries, 16 speakers
and 65 exhibitors the soft fruit industry was well was represented at this fourth
international meeting held in the 1931
Congrescentrum in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Holland. Better known in some regions as
berry fruits or small fruits, the soft fruit industry comprises crops such as
strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, cranberries and cherries. Several of
these crops have developed rapidly in recent years and on several of the
presentations special mention was made to the increased yields being achieved
in modern cropping systems such as 14 Kg per m² for strawberries and 30 tonnes
per hectare and 100 flowers per plant for raspberries. With such yields come the potential for increased
losses. Among the presentations, 25% of
the talks were directly addressing pest problems, highlighting the importance
of pest management in this ever expanding and high value market.
Catherine Baroffio of Agroscope, Switzerland helped start
the morning session with a review of Drosophila
suzukii and the three years of experience in Switzerland. Whilst it has not reached pest status in all
European markets, it is well established across all of Switzerland. The Spotted
Winged Drosophila (SWD) is normally found April to October but Catherine
reported that adult insects were still being caught during this mild winter. Mass Trapping is being encouraged to growers
as an all year round approach, using traps at boundaries to plantations between
the nursery perimeter and the crop with only a few traps located inside the
plantation, if at all. Many trap designs
are in use, some better for monitoring rather than mass trapping. Whilst good attractants were available none
yet provided the ideal combination of an attractant that limits attraction to
only D suzukii and a trap that
prevents ingress of non-target species. Catherine
revealed how mass trapping was being developed as a technique and if combined
with good sanitation appears to give reasonable control of the fly. Catherine expressed concern however about the
ability of the pest to survive in natural hedgerows and that private gardens
and wild areas do represent a huge reservoir for the insect.
Gijs van Kruistum of Waginengen Plant Research looked at
thrips control. With the label changes
to Decis (deltamethrin) in the Netherlands limiting applications on
strawberries to three sprays pre-flowering, growers are keen to find solutions
for thrips. Five species Aeolothrips intermedius (banded thrips),
Frankliniella intonsa (Intonsa flower
thrips (IFT)), T tabaci, Thrips fuscipennis (the rose thrips) and
T. Major are all of concern, with the
latter two most common in open field situations. Gijs reviewed efforts at
attracting Orius majuscules (Reuter)
as a natural predator into crops and the use of white film mulching to provide
protection against thrips. Both options showed good possibilities.
With the removal of methyl bromide and the need to maintain
a viable certification system for plant material, a physical approach to pest
control has been developed and was explained by Bert Evenhuis also of
Waginengen. Strawberry plant material, produced by Dutch growers mainly for
export, on ac 1100ha, in The Netherlands, must be destroyed if Strawberry Tarsonemid
Mite (Phytonemus pallidus) or
infection by the plant parasitic nematode Meloidogyne
hapla is found by the Dutch Quality Board. The presence of tarsonemid mites
in plant material can result in a considerable loss of production. Until 2007
mother planting stock was treated with methyl bromide (MeBr) to eliminate
tarsonemids but this was banned in 2008. From 2007 Controlled Atmosphere
Temperature Treatment (CATT) was developed to provide a non-chemical and
sustainable method for future disinfestation. By using CATT for 48hrs at a temperature of
35°C and 50% CO₂, mortality of the tarsonemid mites is over 99.8% and there are
no harmful irreversible results of the CATT on the vitality of mother plants. Since
2009 CATT has been up-scaled to a commercial level and widely applied by Dutch
producers of planting stock. Bert also considered the potential for the spread
of Xanthomonas fragariae and whilst
CATT does not control or eliminate Xanthomonus (if plants go in infected they
come out infected), spread within the treatment chamber does not occur between
infected and uninfected plants, unless there is a very high pressure.
From Biobest, Jurgen Bouveroux provided his experiences and
latest research for the biological control of redberry mite, thrips and spider
mites. Two sprays of avermectin appear to limit the pest and Biobest are
continuing to test options for predatory mite.
Nutramite, using eggs of the stored product moth, Ephestia spp, is a
recent development to provide a food source to predatory mites enabling early
introduction of predators before the pest arrives and giving the predatory a
head start over the pest
Among the busy exhibition hall, were stands from Biobest,
Koppert, Alton Horticulture, Viridaxis and Vlamings.
Rianne Lek of Koppert explained about the NatuGro system
(abbreviation of Natural Growing). Using the soil as a starting point, the
system uses a four point approach including micro-organisms such as Trichoderma harzianum T-22 (Trianum);
products that stimulate the beneficial organisms present in the soil; analyses
of the microscopic life present in the soil or substrate; and personal,
tailored advice. Koppert makes a distinction between bacteria, fungi, protozoa
(single-cell organisms) and nematodes living around and interacting with the
plant’s roots and their new products steer the underground ecosystem in the
desired direction and monitoring the effects via soil analyses.
Meanwhile at the other end of the hall, Lode Van Schaeren of
Biobest was answering questions about the Flying Doctors programme and the
Nutramite product. The latter is based
on eggs of stored product moths of the genus Ephestia and helps establish
predatory mites early in crops and get a head start before pests arrive. Nutrimite is used for pollen feeding
phytoseid predatory mites: A. andersoni,
A. californicus, A. cucumeris, A. degenerans and A. Swirskii, to accelerate and enhance population development and
to help populations survive periods of low prey or pollen.
Hugh Struth from Aston Horticulture has a long history of
promoting garlic as a plant treatment.
The benefits of garlic are long documented and there is anecdotal and
user evidence that supports its use to boost a plant’s ability to withstand
pest attack. Aston products are a method
of growing crops with zero residues in a sustainable way, reducing or
eliminating the need for chemical treatment.
Further opportunities for horticulture to improve garlic’s green
credentials lie ahead, especially in the production of edible crops, including
soft fruit and top fruit, protected salads and field vegetables. Growers must
adhere to the protocols that have been developed for success with Aston
products. The use of garlic in conjunction with crop management systems, leads
to a much reduced reliance on conventional pesticides with the added benefits
of a reduction or elimination of pesticide residues in the resultant food crop.
Viridaxis, a Belgian company specialized in mass production
of parasitoids to control aphids in a natural way were on hand to discuss aphid
parasitoids. Viridaxis hold an exclusive
patent for biopolymer capsules containing powdered crustacean and algae
extracts that reproduce the physiology of the aphid. The parasitoid is lured to
the target by an ingenious concoction of odours, laying its eggs inside the
capsule. The artificial food inside the capsule allows the parasitoid larva to
develop as it would in a real aphid.
Vlamings is a Dutch supplier to farmers and growers with a
portfolio that includes fertilizers, crop protection, seeds and seedlings. On the stand, Vlamings were promoting their
own Drosophila suzukii trapping
system (see www.drosophila.nl). D
suzukii was first found in the Netherlands in 2012. The Vlamings trap utilises a small bottle
with a horizontal bar entrance tunnel that helps eliminates non-target
pests. This coupled with the special
liquid attract and tablet
formulation, is claimed to be more attractive and selective than apple cider
vinegar. With the mild winter temperatures, flies were still being caught in
January and the testing programme will be continuing in 2014tohelp develop an
optimum monitoring and hopefully effective mass trapping solution.
On the Friday following the event, in what the organisers
expected would be a field trip for 30-40 people, plans had to be hurriedly
amended as 180 people expressed an interest in attending the nursery
visit. An overwhelming number which was
bravely and successfully accommodated.
Finally as successful one day event drew to a close, the organisers issued a special thank you to the companies that made the conference financially possible; principal sponsor Swissgrow-Campag, the four co-sponsors, Bayer CropScience, BerryFresh, Genson and Plant Sciences and the many “Friends” of the ISFC. All presentations are published on the website http://bit.ly/1j8Pr92.
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| The hall originally was used by local farmers to exhibit their livestock |
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| Today the hall was turned into a modern and efficient exhibition hall for the soft fruit industry |
