A meeting on organic fruit cultivation was held at the Centro per la Frutticoltura della Fondazione Agrion and all segment representatives took part. "The foundation organises events like this to discuss technical aspects and help prevent issues. Last year, we talked about market perspectives. This year, we will analyse technical aspects and problems that may arise for the different species," explains Agrion president Giacomo Ballari.
Alberto Aldini from Apofruit Cesena and Graziano Vittone from Agrion described the problems producers might encounter while "converting" their orchards, comparing Emilia-Romagna and Piedmont. They started from the protection of orchards from diseases and insects like sharka for apricots, woolly aphid for apples and brown marmorated stink bug for pears. Organic management is rather demanding from an agronomic point of view. Companies must adapt to the different intervention times.
"Considering the weather conditions in Piedmont, we can say organic kiwis, apples, pears, plums, cherries, peaches, Percoca peaches, apricots and nectarines are the most difficult to manage. Those who wish to implement organic cultivation techniques, must plan their orchard correctly, choose the best varieties and rootstocks as well as the most suitable irrigation and netting systems. In addition, producers must be trained."
The Apofruitt technician added: "in Emilia-Romagna, some problems were avoided using nets. Others, like sharka and phytoplasmas, have worsened, especially in stone fruit. However, there are new solutions that might help solve these issues such as varietal renewal and the introduction of dwarfing and semi-dwarfing rootstocks for cherries, late plum varieties, scab-resistant apple varieties and nets against carpocapsa."
The results of the FLORINFRU project financed by Regione Piemonte were also presented. Together, the regional phytosanitary service and Agrion are testing innovative weed control techniques. A new generation of mechanical equipment may provide valid help for weeding.
Agrion researcher Matteo Bontà illustrated the results of tests carried out in 2016. "They showed the limits of chemical weeding, while mechanical options favoured the richness of species compared to the very few resistant ones. Weed control is satisfactory with just 1 or 2 additional applications with respect to using chemical substances. Of course the mechanical options cost more, however the supporting measures put in place by the Region's PSR (Measure 4.1) can significantly reduce costs. Mechanical weeding is increasing in Piedmont precisely because of these measures as well as because of the interest for organic produce."
Significant support for organic productions is also provided by varietal innovation. Thanks to research, producers can now employ varieties resistant to the main diseases which derive from wild or ancient species.
Lorenzo Berra, research manager for the foundation, illustrated the most interesting cases regarding apple scab and pear fire blight. "For what concerns apples, Coop 39, Coop 39 Crimson Crisp®, Dalinette*, Fujion* and Inored Story® are rather interesting. They are resistant to scab, easy to manage and produce fruit with an excellent quality and shelf-life. As for pears, tolerant varieties such AC Arrow Crisp, Harrow Love, Selena® Elliot* and Harovin Sundown* (or Cold Snap) must be chosen. Sharka and monilia are the main problems affecting peaches. There are still no resistant varieties at the moment, but there are varieties that are more tolerant to monilia (Spring Belle, Red Haven, Maria Marta, Fayette, Michelini). In general, peaches are more rustic than nectarines. In addition to the problems affecting peaches, apricots also have to deal with bacterioris. The Mediabel* and Ilona* varieties are tolerant to Pseudomonas spp".
Left to right: Boretto Alberto, Quaglia Marilena, Arnaudo-Rivoira Stefano, Bunino Alberto (organic producers).
A few producers intervened after the presentation. They were asked to talk about their experience, about the changes to implement when adopting organic cultivation techniques and provided advice. When working in the organic sector, one needs to be conscious about the choices made, be capable of seizing market opportunities and be aware about the conditions of the orchards so as to choose the most suitable solutions to tackle any problem.
The presentations will be available on www.agrion.it