PREFACE

Attendance at the 1969 and 1974 discussion meetings had attracted the interest of workers concerned with the nutrition and the storage of fruit crops in countries other than Western Europe and attendance at the third meeting was therefore extended to participants who would contribute information from a much wider range of fruit growing areas. Moreover, as other aspects of fruit quality are also influenced by nutrition, the scope and the length of the meeting was expanded to cover other forms of wastage or loss of quality which occur during the growing and storage of temperate fruits.

In parallel with these developments there was demand for a meeting on the mineral nutrition of fruit trees. Although there are regular meetings to discuss plant mineral nutrition, most of these are general and deal with a range of crops rather than allowing for discussion in depth of the requirements of any one type of crop. This meeting was organized to gather together current knowledge on temperate fruit trees.

At the time of the meeting the balance of research on fruit tree nutrition was changing from investigations of responses to fertilizers and other supplementary nutrient applications to studies of other factors influencing nutrition, i.e. soil management, orchard design, and to more fundamental studies of the uptake, transport and remobilization of mineral nutrients and their roles in tree growth and production. An opportunity to review what had been done and to look forward was therefore timely. For many years tissue (particularly leaf) analysis has been used in both research and advisory work as a means of indicating the tree's nutritional status. However, there are differences in methodology, in interpretation and in the concentrations of nutrients regarded as optimal, between different laboraties and countries and the meeting provided an opportunity for these to be discussed in detail. Fortunately, it was possible to combine the above interests with those on bitter pit and convene a conference where tree nutrition could be integrated with nutritional effects on fruit quality.

As wells as the formal presentation of invited full-length papers, short communications were invited either for presentation in informal colloquia or in ‘poster’ sessions. These are mainly presented as abstracts in the Proceedings, but several have been expanded by their authors to full papers. Much emphasis was on the discussions and many of the points that attracted comment are recorded in the reports of the discussion sessions. The conference programme was arranged with regard to organization requirements as well as the relationship between the different areas of interests. Since no such constraints apply to the Proceedings, the subject matter has been rearranged in this volume to obtain a logical sequence which, after an introduction to the subject by the Chairman of the ISHS Fruit Section, begins with a section dealing with the effects of nutrition on fruit quality. This is clearly the major objective of managing the nutrient supply to a crop and provides a sense of purpose and scope to the succeeding sections. The second section (Parts II, III and IV) deals with the mechanisms of nutrient entry to, and movement within, fruit trees and the means of influencing the nutrition of both the whole tree and the crop by fertilizers and by management practices, including irrigation and the use of herbicides. The third section (Part V) deals with methods for predicting the needs of the tree for establishment, growth and fruit quality. The volume concludes with an edited version of the final discussions where there was an attempt to synthesize the preceding sessions and look forward.

The papers presented contain the views of the authors and there has been no attempt to standardize these or to reconcile any differences; where these do exist there is clearly a need for better understanding. It is believed that these Proceedings form a basis for a more relevant approach to modern fruit nutrition and that they summarize the current state of our knowledge of this important subject.

D. Atkinson
R.O. Sharples


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

It is a pleasure to acknowledge the help of all of the participants at the ISHS Conference on Mineral Nutrition and Fruit Quality of Temperate Zone Fruit Trees, whose efforts and contributions ensured the success of the meeting.

Thanks are also due to Professor A.F. Posnette who opened the Conference, to Professor J.F. Sutcliffe, Dr M. Faust, Dr K.J. Treharne, Professor W.D. Naumann, Dr D.W.P. Greenham, Dr J. Terblanche, Dr D.W. Robinson, Dr R.C. Little and Professor G. Bünemann who chaired the sessions and to Miss Sandra A. Wilson, G.C. White, D.S. Johnson, Dr M. Allen, Dr M. Knee, Dr C.A. Priestley, Dr S.M. Smith, M. Marks, Dr R. Harrison-Murray, A. Chalmers and Dr K.J. Treharne who acted as rapporteurs at the scientific sessions.

We would also like to thank the trustees of the Agricultural Research Council's Underwood Fund and the British Council for funds which allowed some overseas participants to attend the meeting.

Christ Church College, Canterbury, provided an ideal setting for the meeting and we are grateful to all the staff there who helped make the meeting both constructive and enjoyable.

Mr B.F. Self provided advice and help with the Conference visits as well as the local arrangements at Canterbury. Miss J. Mary Schroeder undertook much of the detailed organizational work for the meetings and her efforts were largely responsible for the smooth running of the Conference itself. Assistance with typing and printing was provided by Mrs A. Morrisey, Mrs K.D. Millgate, Mrs S. Gair and Mr D.G. Richardson.

The editors of this volume are particularly grateful to their colleagues at East Malling Research Station and the Agricultural Development and Advisory Service at Wye for their assistance in the preparation of the Conference papers from which this book has been prepared.

D.A., J.E.J., R.O.S., W.M.W.
April 1980