Pome Fruit Workshop
Pome fruit, or better know as apple & pears to most people was the topic of the latest Speciality crop focus workshop, that was held in late July in Krakow, Poland. Some 26 participants came together from around the world from the 3 alliance partners Yara, SQM & Phosyn to share their experience and success in pome fruit.
The event started with a tour of polish apple farmers and an apple processing plant specializing in the extraction of juice concentrate. Approximately 60% of the Polish apple crop is used for juice, making Poland one of the largest suppliers of apple juice world wide. For the second day participants heard talks covering the key nutrients that affect pome fruit quality and productivity, with Professor Tomala, an expert pomologist as guest speaker. Professor Tomala covered in his presentation various nutrient requirements for apple, and described early detection techniques that could be used to predict storage potential of a specific crop.
The final day of presentations heard over 16 country presentations from around the world, from the specialists in soil applied and fertigation of Yara & SQM, and the experts in foliar nutrition of Phosyn. At the end of the workshop, it was clear that a complimentary portfolio of products could be combined from all 3 alliance partners for the pome fruit crops, giving added benefit to the farmer. Some discussions on the use of Calcinit versus Stopit as a foliar for apples were raised, and soon a consensus of agreement was formed as to the appropriate strategy. Calcinit is useful early in the development of the apple fruit where the crop can benefit from the additional nitrogen as well as the accompanying calcium. For later use Stopit the nitrogen free calcium product offers greater crop safety, and for red apples allows for better development of fruit colour.
If you wish to see more details of the actual presentations, please view AIM for details, downloads of the presentations, or for ordering the CD containing the whole of the workshop.
Author: Miles Harriman, Norway
Published: August 2004