UK: Concept cherry orchard in Fruit Safe hands
The concept orchard, planted in March 2010 on a hectare of land at East Malling is designed to demonstrate the growing performance of eight cherry varieties on a combination of two dwarfing rootstocks with differing tree spacing regimes and shaping plans.
Since the planting, the team at East Malling Ltd has been responsible for the husbandry and maintenance of the orchard, including the pruning and shaping of the 1,600 trees and identify best practice in terms of producing cost-effective, quality cherries.
Richard Isaacs of UNIVEG Katopé UK, said: “The concept orchard is all about seeking to identify the optimum growing methods for cherries in the UK, and enable growers to reduce the risks and maximise the returns.”
With the varieties taking two to three years to get into shape for cherry production, the partners behind the concept orchard anticipate that measuring the effectiveness of the planting optionsadopted will be in 2013/14.
Richard Isaacs added: “By working with the team at East Malling we have been able to design an orchard which pushes the trees to the limits, we’ve adopted a scientific approach. As well as trying to demonstrate what works best in terms of cherry production, we are also keen to identify what doesn't work in a UK environment.
“Recent years has seen an increase in the planting of cherries as growers look to take advantage of growing consumer demand. It is possible there will be a point in the future when main-season production of home-grown cherries exceeds demand, and it will be important for growers to have cost effective growing systems in place to produce high quality cherries at very competitive prices.”
Graham Caspell, Estate Manager at East Malling Ltd, said: “With 1,600 trees on the hectare, compared to a European standard of 1,000, means that we are pushing the boundaries of cherry production.
“Given the dramatic variations in weather that we have experienced over the last few years, protection systems are becoming increasingly important to cherry growers. The HAGO Fruit Safe ‘quick zip’ system, which is an integral part of the concept orchard, has proved itselfthis year, not only in terms of the speed it can be erected or taken down, and ultimately its ability to protect the orchard.”
For more information:
Graham Caspell
East Malling Ltd.
Tel: 0044 1732 523762