ISHS Acta Horticulturae 347: II International Symposium on Integrated Fruit Production
AN OVERVIEW OF THE SECOND ISHS INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON INTEGRATED FRUIT PRODUCTION |
| Author: | J.V. Cross |
| Abstract:
IFP can be viewed as an intermediate between conventional production systems, where profit is given the highest priority, and ecosystem based production systems (organic systems) where the environment, health, food supply and other values are given equal priority. To reach the final goal, IFP can be developed by the inclusion of greater technological inputs so reducing pesticide use, and by reducing energy inputs. IFP has evolved from a concept which was held only by a few researchers to a viable commercial system. Using the appropriate promotional methods, IFP is attractive to the consumer, and if implemented correctly, results in no profit loss to growers, can improve fruit quality, and is positive for the environment. Dr Oberhofer showed it can be a commercial success, and reported the re-appearance of birds and fish whose numbers had diminished in the S Tyrol, under conventional orchard management systems. In other countries and regions IFP is still in its infancy, still the domain of researchers, or intermediate systems with easier requirements are being use d as a steppingstone. Growers can be obliged to adopt IFP systems by commercial or social pressures, by government laws (eg. The Netherlands target of a circa 50% pesticide reduction) or by a feeling of responsibility towards the consumer or the environment. Participants at the symposium agreed that IFP represented, unquestionably, a positive step forward even though many serious reservations were voiced concerning details of their guidelines and the speed of implementation. One important problem highlighted was the difficulty in reducing fungicide use. At most, only small reductions in scab fungicide usage is being achieved to date, except in the UK. Plant breeding clearly offers the best solution, but great effort will be needed to obtain resistant cultivars with acceptable quality and storability. In the meantime, new/improved strategies of disease risk forecasting require full and extensive evaluation. The quantification of ascospores (PAD), the susceptibility of the host and the quantitative evaluation of weather data are concepts which will improve the accuracy of disease forecasting systems. Large (circa 70%) reductions in fungicide use have been achieved on many farms in the UK by greatly reducing the dose, combined spray with ULV application techniques but increased frequency of application. Although this avenue for progress has been partially explored in experiments and commercial practice in several other countries, it has been abandoned because of poor results. The lack of success may be due | |
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