Soft Fruit Day webinar to take place November 28

Growers and industry stakeholders are invited to join Niab's free online soft fruit day on 28th November, which will include updates on research into maximizing yield potential in strawberry and raspberry crops, with tickets available on www.niab.com.

The webinar will take place Thursday 28th November 2024, online from 9.10 am-2.15 pm.

Previous Niab work on the full yield potential of strawberry varieties Malling Champion and Malling Ace highlighted the variation in yield potential between individual plants. Work is now focused on optimizing the propagation environment to produce plants of equal quality that have the same maximum yield potential. Niab is also working to optimize raspberry propagation to maximize plant uniformity.

Delegates attending the webinar will find out how both projects are progressing, alongside research in matching nitrogen supply to demand in container-grown raspberry. Other presentations will cover key results delivered from Niab's WET Centre on water and fertilizer use and how strawberry plants respond to their position within the tunnel environment.

There will be updates on coir recycling, precision pollination and bee management in strawberries, earwig management in strawberries, biocontrol of aphids in protected raspberries, and the impact of landscape complexity on pest management in soft fruit.

The afternoon session will focus on managing spotted wing drosophila. This includes recent research into the use of parasitoids, sterile insect technique, developing a push-pull approach to control, and final results from a Growing Kent & Medway funded project to assess strawberry and raspberry varietal resistance to the pest.

Niab Knowledge Exchange Manager Scott Raffle, commented, "The soft fruit industry is continually being challenged to maximize yields, increase circularity and sustainability within production businesses, and rely on environmental management techniques to harness natural control agents for pests and diseases. This event will focus on Growing Kent & Medway and other funded projects that seek to overcome some of these challenges "

If you wish to book your place in the webinar, click here.