Webinar: NIAB Tree Fruit Day 2023

A tractor spraying at plum trees at NIAB's Plum Demonstration Centre

Technical webinar on tree fruit research 

Tuesday 21 February 2023

You can now watch recordings of the sessions

This year’s annual NIAB tree fruit day provided the industry with the latest results of a wide range of research projects led by NIAB and other researchers. The event covered the latest findings from NIAB’s Plum Demonstration Centre, updates on new research into spray application, post-harvest technology, and pest and disease research. Delegates were up-dated on SWD research developments and some interesting findings from three CTP studentship projects.

Session 1: Tree fruit general and Growing Kent & Medway up-date

Developing a precision dosing orchard sprayer (Charles Whitfield, NIAB)
Detection and prediction of internal browning in apple (Richard Colgan, University of Greenwich)
Fluorometer technology to assess spray application (Charles Whitfield, NIAB)
Up-date from the NIAB Plum Demonstration Centre  (Scott Raffle, NIAB)
Growing Kent & Medway Cluster: Supporting sustainable horticultural innovation (Robert Saville, NIAB)

Session 2: Disease research in pome and stone fruits 

Latest developments in apple canker research (Mat Papp-Rupar, NIAB)
Apple replant disease and soil amendments (Tom Passey, NIAB)
Variability of Pseudomonas canker pathogen in relation to plant host species and location (Xiangming Xu, NIAB)

Session 3: Pest and ecology research in tree fruit 

New research into forest bug and apple sawfly (Francis Wamonje, NIAB)
Pear sucker and its natural enemies (Laura Reeves, University of Reading and NIAB)
Nesting preferences of solitary ground-nesting bees in apple  orchards (Konstantinos Tsiolis, University of Reading and NIAB)
Brown marmorated stink bug monitoring in the UK -  (Francis Wamonje, NIAB) 

Session 4: New developments in spotted wing drosophila control 

Probandz: A cost-effective adjuvant for spotted wing drosophila management (Clare Sampson, Russell IPM)
Impact of SWD bait sprays on beneficial insects (Bethan Shaw, NIAB)
Further progress with sterile insect technique for SWD control (Glen Slade, BigSis)
SWD population management and monitoring (Adam Walker, NIAB)