Tag Archives: soft fruit

New Dutch strawberries released

Dutch fruit producer Flevo Berry has released a new mid-season fruiting strawberry that the company says has good tolerance to Phytopthora.

Sonsation is a short day variety, with berries with orange-red, conical berries which are said to resemble Sonata, but with better firmness. According to the company, ‘Sonsation is an easy growing variety producing a compact plant with lovely upturned leafs. Flower trusses are at leaf length and still well protected against spring frost. Flowers have excellent pollen quality ensuring a very well fruit set and fruits are well displayed and very easy to pick.’

Steven Oosterloo, commercial director of Flevo Berry said: “Sonsation fits into our philosophy. In developing new varieties we always look ahead. It can be done differently and it really must be done differently, so for us, flavor and sustainability are at the top of the list. It is a part of the way we think. You can use Sonsation in a variety of growing systems. From normal conditions and cooled environments to cultivation on racks and on substrate in greenhouses. The variety is easy to grow and juicy, making it appropriate for both direct sale and retail.”

Photo Credit: Flevo Berry

The post New Dutch strawberries released appeared first on Hort News on 23 July 2018.

Berry Gardens begins two year robotics trial

Berry Gardens is working with the University of Lincoln and Norway’s Saga Robotics to trial the use of the Thorvald agricultural robot in soft fruit fields and see if it can increase harvest efficiency.

The ‘trailblazing’ project, known as RAS-Berry, has attracted funding from Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS). The main use of the robots in the trail is to transport boxes of harvested fruit from the picking- to the collection-point, relieving workers to concentrate on the more difficult task of picking and improving overall harvest efficiency.

Ursula Lidbetter MBE, Chair of the Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership, commented, “Greater Lincolnshire is a major food-producing area, and the agri-food industry is one of our six priority sectors. It’s fantastic to see a Lincolnshire-based project leading the way in AI. This will really put Lincolnshire on the map for developing technologies that can help and support the county’s food producers to grow and innovate.”

Photo Credit: Saga Robotics

The post Berry Gardens begins two year robotics trial appeared first on Hort News on 23 July 2018.

Scottish soft fruit growers say produce being wasted due to lack of pickers

Scottish soft fruit growers in Perthshire and Angus are seeing perfectly good produce left behind on bushes due to a shortage of pickers, just as demand peaks during one of the UK’s hottest summers in forty years.

As well as the unprecedented demand, the weather has lead to high yields of fruit which is ripening extremely quickly. These factors, when added to the ongoing labour crisis has created perfect storm which has seen fruit go to waste.

General Manager of Angus Soft Fruits, William Houston, told The Courierthat most producers were “just about” coping, but said that most fields weren’t getting a final pick over to clear up any last fruit.

“The other big issue is that the standard of workers from Eastern Europe isn’t as good as it used to be,” he added. “If we had the same standard as even two years ago they’d all be relishing the busyness, working their guts out picking huge volumes of fruit and everyone would be happy. But there is a huge difference between the best workers who can pick 20kgs an hour and the worst at only 8kg an hour.”

Peter Marshall Fruit at Alyth said it had left 15 tonnes of strawberries and five tonnes of raspberries to rot last week because of a combination of too few pickers and an unusually long period of sunshine which meant the fruit ripened quickly. “The fruit is ripening so fast, by the time the pickers get to the end of a drill they need to start all over again,” commented the firm’s Meg Marshall.

Photo Credit: Claudette Gallant / Public Domain Pictures

The post Scottish soft fruit growers say produce being wasted due to lack of pickers appeared first on Hort News on 18 July 2018.

Industry getting ready for Fruit Focus

As preparations for Fruit Focus on 25th July continue, the event, which is expected to connect more than 1,300 visitors to over 120 exhibitors, says it will focus on the continued evolution of the UK fruit industry as it faces climate change, Brexit, new technology and irrigation challenges.

The event will give growers the chance to see the latest innovation in water use and irrigation in the Water Efficient Technologies (WET) Centre. Opened last year, it features a fully automated Precision Irrigation Package, which has proven to reduce the use of water, fertilisers, pesticides and energy by 20% while also delivering up to a 10% increase in strawberry yields. With new abstraction licenses on the horizon, the area is sure to be popular.

Event hosts NIAB EMR will also be holding a forum looking at precision growing of soft fruit, encompassing new innovations and technologies to enhance crop productivity, resilience and quality. The ever-popular research tours will include the research vineyard, WET centre and concept pear orchard. “NIAB EMR’s showpiece demonstration feature, the WET Centre, is in its first full year of production, and we are anticipating a heavy crop of Malling™ Centenary,” comments Prof Mario Caccamo, managing director at NIAB EMR.

Other attractions include the NFU Forum and tours looking at strawberry pollination and the ‘concept pear orchard.’ Tickets are on sale now.

Photo Credit: Fruit Focus

The post Industry getting ready for Fruit Focus appeared first on Hort News on 21 June 2018.

Scottish soft fruit needs labour commitment

Scottish fruit grower James Porter has told Scotland’s Rural Economy Secretary Fergus Ewing that the country’s successful soft fruit industry needs a seasonal workers scheme in place by this summer if crop is not to be wasted.

Mr Porter made the comments during a visit by Mr Ewing to co-operative Angus Growers based at Auchrennie near Carnoustie, where the MSP visited polytunnels used to grow strawberries and spoke to workers.

With the soft fruit industry estimated to be worth £134 million to Scotland’s economy, Mr Porter, who is also NFU Scotland’s soft fruit chairman, said, “We urgently need a seasonal workers scheme which will apply to people from out with the EU, because the weakness of the pound no longer makes working in the UK such an attractive option. He added that while his business currently has enough workers, he expects to be 15 per cent short by August, and that EU labour will not be enough to meet demand.

Mr Ewing said that the issue is down to Westminster and that he had pressed Environment Secretary Michael Gove on the issue: “After the second meeting [Gove] said the seasonal workers scheme would come forward soon, then advised ‘complete clarity’ by the end of March. The end of March has come and gone and now the end of April has gone. The UK Government could end this ongoing uncertainty by committing to remaining in the EU single market and customs union. Such a position would demonstrate to seasonal workers that Scotland, and the whole of the UK, remains an open and welcoming place to live and work.”

Photo Caption: Fergus Ewing visited cooperative Angus Growers

Photo Credit: Fergus Ewing

The post Scottish soft fruit needs labour commitment appeared first on Hort News. on 17 May 2018.

Exciting new varieties from summer fruiting raspberry trials

AHDB Horticulture is highlighting the benefits of variety trials on new raspberry varieties funded by the levy board.

“Exciting work coming out of the latest summer fruiting raspberry variety trials means that soft fruit growers have increased access to delicious and profitable selections,” says AHDB Knowledge Exchange manager Scott Raffle. “Over the years, the UK Raspberry Breeding Programme has produced many competitive new varieties. The trial allowed the performance of a wide variety of selections to be compared to industry standards, Tulameen and Octavia.”

He says that of particular note were Squamish, Glen Carron, Glen Dee and two late selections from NIAB EMR, all of which he described as “outstanding.” Canadian variety Squamish produces unusually high yields for an early variety and has a low chilling requirement compared to Tulameen.

“Glen Carron (formerly 0485K-1) produces a very high quality raspberry that is consistently larger than Tulameen,” adds Scott. “It does have a high chilling requirement, but it could perform well when used in sequential plantings of cold stored long canes. Glen Dee offers a late season replacement to Octavia with very large berry size, high yields and high fruit quality.”

The trials also suggest that two NIAB EMR selections (EM6805/142 and EM 6804/81) could replace Octavia, producing higher yields than the long established standard. Two selections from Washington State University (WSU 1605 and WSU 1607) are also interesting.

“With more selections becoming available each year, growers are encouraged to seize the opportunity to compare some of the new outstanding varieties and selections with their own production systems,” stresses Scott, who recommends that growers download the AHDB Summer Fruiting Raspberry Variety Trial factsheet.

Photo Caption: Glen Carron was one of the varieties highlighted by Scott Raffle

Photo Credit: James Hutton Limited

The post Exciting new varieties from summer fruiting raspberry trials appeared first on Hort News on 18 April 2018.

Monsanto brings gene-editing to strawberries

Multinational agribusiness Monsanto has invested $125 million in agricultural start-up Pairwise to leverage gene editing technology into fresh produce crops such as strawberries.

According to Business Insider, the two companies will use CRISPR gene editing techniques to develop fruit crops – most likely to be strawberries – within the next five to 10 years, with the benefits expected to be sweeter fruit with a longer shelf life. The website also reported that former Monsanto’s vice president of global biotechnology Tom Adams will become the new CEO of Pairwise.

“Gene editing allows you to address problems that you can’t address with genetic modification and do so faster,” Adams said, adding, “what’s exciting is that it can get into crops that have a smaller footprint than maybe corn and have more opportunities to get into the hands of consumers.”

Haven Baker, the founder and CEO of Pairwise plants, told Business Insider, “We are absolutely targeting things that you’ll be able to see in the produce aisle. And ideally it’ll be benefits you recognize as an average consumer shopping and looking for produce. We want to make specialty crops cheaper more accessible and more affordable.”

Photo Credit: Pixabay

The post Monsanto brings gene-editing to strawberries appeared first on Hort News on 5 April 2018.

Lack of labour could kill Scottish fruit sector

A survey of Scottish farmers and growers has indicated that two-thirds of them may quit the industry if they are unable to access EU labour after Brexit, causing fears about the survival of the country’s horticulture sector.

The research, which was conducted by Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) last summer, Research by Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) showed there were 9,225 seasonal migrant workers in Scotland last year (which it described as a conservative estimate), with the majority involved in picking soft fruit, as well as the field veg and potato sectors.

The survey also suggested more than half of farmers would also consider diversifying their operations due to labour shortages. The survey’s authors said, ‘Brexit has undoubtedly affected the confidence of a proportion of workers and therefore their expectations about returning to Scotland in 2018. Approximately 40 per cent of the surveyed workers were certain they would be returning to Scotland in 2018, with 12 per cent unlikely to return due to having permanent jobs to go to in their home countries, or returning to studies, etc. 46 per cent were uncertain about whether they would return in 2018.’

Around a quarter of workers worked on more than one farm in the UK and there is also transition to other sectors particularly food processing and hospitality. On average, seasonal migrant workers were employed for just over four months per year, corresponding to the key soft fruit harvest period, but the seasonal pattern of crops in Scotland provided an opportunity for workers to work for extended periods.

Photo Credit: pxhere

The post Lack of labour could kill Scottish fruit sector appeared first on Hort News on 29 March 2018.

Berry Gardens to use shelf life technology

Berry and stone fruit marketing organisation Berry Gardens has signed an arrangement with technology company Anacail to exclusively use their ozone technology for berries, cherries and plums in the UK.

Berry Gardens CEO, Jacqui Green, said, “This technology is game changing in our industry, using ozone, a proven sterilant, to reduce the presence of yeasts and moulds. This means extended shelf life, reduced waste and a better product for our consumer. We are thrilled to be working with Anacail and our businesses are closely aligned in our ambition to ensure the best berries, cherries and plums are available to our consumers across the breadth of the retail sector.”

Anacail, which is a venture capital backed SME spin-out from the Astrophysics Department at Glasgow University, specialises in creating and handling ozone in revolutionary, safe and flexible ways. Its key technology allows the generation of ozone (an activated form of oxygen), inside sealed packages, without damaging or opening the package.

Anacail’s CEO, Ian Muirhead commented, “We are delighted to sign this collaboration with Berry Gardens, a major player and leading innovator in their sector.  It is a major milestone for Anacail in bringing our innovative technology to market.”

Photo Caption: Anacail’s F-LC2-250 in-pack ozone machine.

Photo Credit: Anacail Ltd

The post Berry Gardens to use shelf life technology appeared first on Hort News.

BerryWorld creates Spanish subsidiary

The BerryWorld group has expanded its PrepWorld subsidiary to Spain, creating what it says is a fresh-cut fruit supplier with a ‘distinctly Spanish twist and flair.’

The new Valencia-based company is a joint venture with Spanish soft fruit grower and exporter Surexport Compañia Agraria. It will be headed up by general manager Pepe Morant, who has extensive experience of fresh produce in both Spain and the UK, most recently as General Manager of Del Monte Spain.

“We have been evaluating the potential of establishing a Spanish prepared fruit business with our partners at Surexport for a number of years,” said BerryWorld’s managing director Ben Olins. “We believe that the factors that have made PrepWorld successful in the UK, a focus on quality, innovation and high technical standards, will work well in the Spanish market.”

Surexport managing director Andres Morales added: “With the expertise of our partners in a more mature market for prep and our knowledge in production and premium varieties, we will bring delicious, high-quality, healthy products to the Spanish consumer.”

Photo Credit: BerryWorld

The post BerryWorld creates Spanish subsidiary appeared first on Hort News.