Fruit Focus 2025 will feature the latest research and innovations from Niab during its one-day event at the East Malling site in Kent on 9 July. The event is expected to attract more than 1,500 attendees and over 100 exhibitors from the fresh fruit and viticulture sectors.
A central part of the programme will be the Niab Research Tours, which include visits to the Produce Quality Centre, the Research Vineyard, and the Plum Research Orchard. Organisers say that the tours will present results from new projects or recent findings that have not been previously shared at the event.
Among the studies highlighted during the Niab/Growing Kent and Medway Fruit Research tour are projects addressing pest control and crop health. This includes work on managing earwig populations in strawberries, understanding the spread of the brown marmorated stink bug, non-invasive methods for detecting disease in cherries, and post-harvest treatments to extend strawberry shelf life. Research on coir recycling from used soft fruit crops will also be presented.
The event will also showcase ongoing projects such as Precision Orchard Management for the Environment (POME), which focuses on improving apple pest and disease control, and Flythrive, which explores the potential of hoverflies for controlling aphids in strawberry crops. Additionally, strawberry vertical farming will be introduced as part of research into increasing production efficiency.
A Research Hour session at the NFU Forum will include discussions on challenges and recent developments in the fruit sector. Topics will include findings on raspberry propagation and the impact of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi on cane growth. Another presentation will focus on collaborative work by Niab, ADAS, and the James Hutton Institute on developing breeding tools for commercial soft fruit programmes. The POME project will also be discussed, with a focus on how technology is being used to support orchard environmental management.
For more information:
Olivia Cooper
Fruit Focus 2025
Tel: +44 (0) 1392 840009
Email: [email protected]
www.fruitfocus.co.uk