HELIOS project update – The Fruit Grower
BIFGA held their Summer Farm Walk in early June at Boormans Farm, Kent, by kind permission of Peter, Gina and Jessica Kedge ...
Rob Saunders of HL Hutchinson Ltd gave an update on a series of fruit research projects the company is carrying out. Hutchinsons 10-year HELIOS (Hutchinsons Enhanced Light Interception Orchard System) project is based on the simple premise that the ultimate yield of apples is relative to how much light a tree can get. Rob said that 60% of light is lost in most orchards.
Can you get consistently higher crops of quality fruit if the tree is able to capture more sunlight? By redesigning the canopy and tree architecture, it should be possible to intercept more light, which should result in higher yields. The HELIOS project has been set up to test this theory – how yields can be increased and an orchard established more cost-effectively and robot-ready. There are two Gala orchards set up, one in the West Midlands and one in Kent. Growers will be invited to the sites for opportunities to keep track of how the project is progressing.
Under the HELIOS banner, Rob gave updates on three research projects: PODS, IRIS and RED-APPLE:
This project aims to treat trees as individuals to overcome the problem of variability in orchards even though genetically all the trees are the same. Using Lidar scanning to map trees and a specially designed sprayer, the idea is optimise tree performance and spray use.
Tests new alternatives to help scab programmes to be more resilient. Deploying biostimulants when there is a good leaf canopy after starting the season with conventional fungicides and then only using fungicides if the RIMPRO model goes beyond a set threshold has given interesting results in the first year. Some products proved to be useless, but Rob reported success for some biostimulants, so they are repeating the replicated trials to test their results.
Can Al (artificial intelligence) do better than a trained agronomist to spot problems earlier? This project will look at developing the use of hyperspectral cameras to spot pests and diseases remotely in orchards and improve disease models by inputting data from spore traps.
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