Breeding is a key source of innovation in both the cultivation and marketing of strawberries. By developing low-chill varieties, everbearer, June-bearer strawberries, growers can find diverse solutions to enhance value. These advancements benefit the entire value chain by reducing inputs, enabling year-round fruit availability, and optimizing glasshouse cultivation.

 

Sawflies are sporadic pests of several horticultural crops. Although pheromones have been identified for many pine sawflies of the Diprionidae family, the pheromone of only one species from the Tenthredinidae family had previously been reported. It was proposed that virgin females of the yellowheaded spruce sawfly, Pikonema alaskensis, used unsaturated aldehydes derived by degradation of unsaturated cuticular hydrocarbons as sex pheromone to attract males.

This seminar will explain how to improve calcium mobility and the effect this has on tree and soft fruit in the field. Hear how the calcium mobility biostimulant technology works to optimise movement and distribution of calcium in plant tissue to help improve crop quality and yield, and reduce the risk of calcium disorders.

Join this seminar and hear from the NFU about their priorities to help champion horticulture chaired by Christine McDowell, NFU Senior Policy Specialist.  Panel and topics will include below as well as a 25 minutes Q&A.  Do not miss this key seminar as well as a chance to share your thoughts.    

• Martin Emmett, NFU Horticulture & Potato Board Chairman will set out the latest NFU activity and what he’d like to see from the new government
• Emma Crosby, NFU External Affairs will take Fruit Focus visitors through what a new government agenda might look like & what they’ll want to achieve in their first 100 days
• Tom Price, NFU Employment & Skills adviser will cover the policy developments affecting labour and skills and provide the latest update on the Sedex situation
• Rupert Weaver, NFU Horticulture & Potatoes Adviser will shine a spotlight on the independently run farm assurance review, and how members can get involved

Hear from industry experts about the regulatory future of crop protection and, how the UK may be adapting in a post-Brexit regulatory world chaired by Martin Emmett, NFU Horticulture & Potato Board Chairman and including speakers and topics including the below.  Followed by a 30 minute Q&A, this seminar gives you a chance to put forward ideas to progress the topic. 

• Chris Hartfield, NFU Senior Regulatory Affairs will share what the NFU has been doing to campaign for a better crop protection regulatory future
• Richard Hopkins, Chair AIC and WSGA will discuss his views on the lack of an updated National Action Plan, and how Brexit is affecting the UK market
• Ali Capper, Chair HCP will celebrate what HCP has achieved over the last 12 months and delve into what their ambitions are for the future

The Worshipful Company of Fruiterers will make several award presentations in support of the Fruiterers' objectives

• To promote excellence across all sectors of the fruit industry.
• To support education and research within the fruit industry.
• To be active in raising funds and giving to charity
• To support and promote the City of London.
• To foster a spirit of good fellowship and encourage new membership

This rapid fire technical session will cover topics below:

• Developing alternative methods of control for apple canker
• Precision pollination for improved nutrition and shelf-life in protected strawberry
• Screening for resistance to spotted wing drosophila in strawberry and raspberry
• Integrated biological control of large raspberry aphid
• The latest developments in coir recycling

Join this seminar to learn about AI-powered pest monitoring solutions that accurately monitor, counts and records pest populations on various environments, such as farms. This innovative technology uses advanced AI algorithms to detect and precisely monitor pests, reducing the need for manual labour and resources.  AI-powered monitoring enables you to identify pest infestations at an early stage, allowing for quick and targeted control measures while providing valuable insights into pest activity and trends. 

Discuss research which allows growers to be more accurate with crop production and protection strategies, with the benefit of being more sustainable and economical including

• Identification of thrips of which there are around 15 different species in commercial British strawberry.  Each species has a unique life cycle, behaviour, and resistance to insecticides, therefore requiring a tailored approach to their management. 
• A case study on how the correct identification of moth larvae led to effective mass trapping using species-specific sex pheromones.
• How correct identification of aphids allowed to use biological controls more effectively.

This seminar will take a look at a new technology - circular in nature - utilising hydrolysed proteins, peptides and amino acids naturally derived from sheep wool.

This technology assists plant biological processes in response to abiotic stress and improves crop quality and yield. The combination of hydrolysed proteins, peptides, and amino acids has a diverse range of actions, including stimulating hormonal synthesis pathways, chlorophyll synthesis, nutrient uptake and assimilation, and plant metabolism.  Benefits include reduced transplant shock, boosted plant metabolism and green-up, improved nutrient uptake and assimilation, increased plant growth, vigour, and tillering, improved fruit yield and quality, reduced phytotoxicity from herbicide application, increased tolerance to abiotic stress.

The presentation will cover its relevance to fruit growing, the genetic basis for its effect (results from UK universities), and trials in Fruit and Vegetables.

Enhance your fruit cultivation, decrease costs and optimize growth using Coir Substrates.  This seminar will help you pick the right chips/coco peat mix and choose the right EC Level for your crops.

Plants are becoming increasingly understood as a dynamic system of constituent organs and communities of microbes housed by these structures.  The traditional agronomic approach has largely overlooked the importance of the interaction between plants and their associated microbes – only focusing on the emergence of diseases from these microbiomes.  By implementing a holistic agronomic approach, growers are able to tailor all of their inputs, not just pesticides, to positively manipulate the activity of the plant and its microbiomes. This enables growers to exploit natural processes that create effective barriers to exclude and combat pathogens without reliance on curative chemical fungicides – avoiding infection and facilitating quicker and stronger plant growth. This preventative approach, therefore, reduces input costs whilst ensuring crop success – enabling both environmentally and financially sustainable crop production.

Rising labour costs, Brexit and the weather (to name a few) are conspiring against growers trying to run sustainable, profitable businesses.  Automation isn't a silver bullet; it's a key enabler for simplification, cost control and transparency.  Jake will share insights from a £2 million Carbon Trust project part-funded by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero to automate food production and drive sustainability in partnership with M&S and Solina.  He'll also provide insights from early adopters, including Worldwide Fruit and Wealmoor, on the learnings from collecting data and connecting processes to give you a clear picture to drive improvements within your packhouse.

Tara's presentation will focus on how advancements in tray sealing technology are raising the bar in meeting key production goals. She will address challenges related to sustainability, operational efficiency and food safety through seal integrity. By showcasing the capabilities of the award-winning QX-500 tray sealer, Tara will demonstrate how Ishida's technology helps food producers overcome industry challenges and comply with retail standards and consumer expectations.

This seminar will address the use of drones in UK horticulture for soft, top & vineyard use including but not limited to:   

•    Precision application of products without damage to soil structure or compaction
•    Variable rate application of fertilizer and foliar feeds when coupled with survey drone
•    Down wash from props allows for better all over leaf contact of product, particularly for mildew issue, which can be treated with sulphur or copper 
•    Variable rate spraying (map created by survey drone) for thinning of flowering, to ensure better fruit sizing and uniformity
•    Pest spraying according to moth trap data, night spraying while pest is active and beneficials are dormant