Several alternative methods to chemical treatments and how to improve plant protection sprayings on fruit production actions are described in order to achieve a reduction of the pesticide dependence and a residues minimization on fruit on conventional and organic orchards.

Fruit thinning is an important activity for pipfruit growers that determines the economic result. Although it increases fruit size and has a positive effect on the number of flower buds for the next season, the thinning effect of 6-BA is sometimes insufficient. Combination of 6-BA with NAA (Fixor, 0.1 L/ha) is possible, but can yield over thinning in pear. Cloudiness with low radiation and high night temperatures in the days before and after Brevis application can result in too strong thinning. At the time of the severe night frost of 19 to 20 April 2017 one week after the end of bloom fruitlets were already formed and Brevis application did not result in over thinning. Growers did not apply Brevis in 2017 unless very late (18 mm or more) with no thinning effect as a result.
Also in apple 6-BA has a rather weak thinning effect and a small positive effect on fruit size, but it stimulates flower bud formation. Combination with NAA (Fixor, 0.1 L/ha) is possible on apple. Brevis at 1.1 kg/ha suffices for a moderate thinning. For strong thinning or cultivars that are difficult to thin it is best to use 1.1 kg/ha twice, while one application at 1.65 kg/ha is advised for ‘Golden’. Due to the severe frost damage in 2017 thinning in apple is required in 2018. Under good weather conditions during bloom early thinning with ammonium thiosulphate (ATS) shortly after full bloom and bloom is possible in ‘Elstar’ and ‘Pinova’ (2x ATS, 20 & 15 L/ha). Weak thinning can be achieved with Amid-Thin (NAD, 0.75 kg/ha). Subsequent (8-10 mm) use of 6-BA at minimum 18)C during application and the following days yields strong thinning.

27 production systems, located on six places in France, compose the national apple network EXPE Ecophyto. The study aims to acquire technical and economic references to reduce the use of pesticides and limit detectable residues on fruits. The main mobilized technics are genetics (varietal resistance), cultural practices (prophylaxis), biocontrol products, efficiency (models and decision thresholds, doses modulation, spraying techniques), physical protections (Alt’Carpo nets, rain covers), mechanization (mechanical weed control), beneficial insects (released or by preservation). The economic systems are led with an integrated fruit protection program or in an organic way.
On an average of five years, 12 systems (on 19) reached a percentage of reduction of the total chemical treatment frequency indicator (in French: IFT) of more than 50 % with regard to the reference. On the other hand, just 7 systems are considered as economic and efficient systems (in French: SCEP2). Among those, only the 3 organic systems present an equal or upper economic profit than the incurred production costs.

In the frame of PEPS project supported by French Ministry of Agriculture, five plant resistance inducers (PRIs) have been tested both in orchard and in controlled conditions. The first workpackage of the project was to screen in laboratory around thirty commercialized products in order to select the five most efficient apple defense activators. The products have then been tested throughout the PEPS network of experimental orchards for their ability to protect against apple scab and storage diseases. In parallel to orchard trials, several studies were performed in controlled conditions in order to identify factors that can influence PRI efficiency and to study additional properties of the products.

The members of the Cooperation of producers Martell (MEG) grow berries on 50ha, on 1.000-1.700 masl.
Regarding strawberries, cultivated on 35ha, the varieties Elsanta and Darselect are prevailing. Neither of these are suited for the high altitudes of the Martell valley. To find more suitable varieties, a research field is being created.
On 6ha of the Martell valley, the following raspberry varieties are cultivated: Polka, Tulameen, Glen Ample and Amira. The main varieties of blueberries, Duke and Berkeley, are cultivated in pots on 2ha. Blackberries (Loch Ness and Novaho), cultivated on 1ha, are grown as hedges.
In the last couple of years, the harvest of berries decreased due to spring frosts and invasive pests, both very big problems to the berry-farmers. In addition, the rural exodus caused some of the decrease. Alpine farming poses many challenges to the farmers: Steep fields, high altitudes and no varieties particularly suited for these regions make farming challenging. Thus, more support, manpower and expertise for the berry-variety breeding and testing are needed. Another challenge is the distance of the fields from the cities, which makes the transportation and the marketing of the fruits very difficult. Finally, South Tyrolean producers of soft fruits are lacking expertise and funding. If subsidized, however, berries provide a big potential for the zones situated above 1.000 masl. As such, the cultivation of soft fruits can provide an alternative to rural exodus.

Microbial post-harvest diseases can be controlled using existing methods (synthetic fungicides, CA- Storage, 1-MCP). With the pressure of reducing synthetic fungicides (Swiss action plan in plant protection, EU- regulation), an increase of microbial post- harvest disease and thus an increase in food loss is to be expected. Using state of the art molecular methods (spore sampling, molecular diagnostic assays, metagenomics) microbial diseases can be characterized to a previously unknown resolution and the resulting information can be applied to obtain a high fruit quality with decreased input of synthetic plant protection products. Additionally, existing biocontrol methods (Aureobasidium, Metschnikowia) are evaluated and novel antagonists are identified. In order to characterize these pathogens, antagonists and complete microbiomes, state of the art technologies in molecular diagnostics (PCR, LAMP) and sequencing (Sequencing-by-synthesis, Nanopore) are evaluated and applied within the Swiss agricultural system. In order to assess the quality of fruits, methods in physical and chemical analytics are applied continuously and novel methods are evaluated.

In blackberry organic production in tunnels Loch Ness, Loch Tay and Natchez were most promising. In black currant a new test clone was late flowering and escaped spring frost in all years and gave the highest accumulated yield. N. Viking, B. Hope, B. Lomond is the best cultivars in conventional tests. In red currant an organic trial showed that Red Poll and Roodneus had highest yields and highest content of color and were recommended, and better than Augustus and Rovada.
For Aronia melanocarpa Viking showed a bit higher yield than Nero in an organic trial but both had very high color content. Anthocyanin content in pomace varied depending on juice processing and pressing methods and more than 50% of anthocyanins were left in the pomace. Trials with over 100 clones of European blueberries showed large variation in yield, berry size, plant growth, plant health and fruit quality. Efficient propagation methods using summer cuttings were developed and a special liquid fertilizer developed for EB. Data for selection of superior cultivars has been collected for several years and is expected to lead to release of clones in few years.
New specialty species have been tested (hascaps, highbush blueberries, bush cherries, saskatoons, goji berries, japanese silver berries, cornelian cherries, white (red) currant, green (black) currant, hybrid black currant x gooseberry, gooseberries). First harvest with machine were done successfully in summer-autumn 2017 and fruit analysis performed.

Peach is the main deciduous fruit in Catalonia and in Spain (82,000 ha).The innovation in this specie focused on the development of new varieties to enhance the low peach consumption combined with efficient rootstocks and training systems adapted to the mechanization has become the main research topic for peach at IRTA.

Peach assortment has been completed with rustic varieties, well adapted to spring frost risk and warm and hot summers, productive, not early blooming, medium to low in vigour, offering some tolerance to Monilinia, full coloured, offering optimum fruit size and shape, firm, juicy and sweet flesh and optimum flavour, and covering a wide range of maturity. In addition, the selected cultivars should maintain the internal quality and taste for at least 30 days.

In the schema of the IRTA’s variety testing program, initiated in 1996, has now (2017) in the testing plot 191 new and reference cultivars planted for the first screening. After 4 to 5 production years, a first selection is done. Varieties that are not good enough are grubbed and replaced for new varieties.

Because the continuing crisis of grower prices over the last three seasons, a special focus is addressed to the new fruit types as flat peaches or flat nectarines, deanthocyanic cultivars or yellow skin, to diversify the product and to innovate for consumers.

The Autonomous Province of Bolzano (South-Tyrol) funded the multidisciplinary research project “MONALISA – Monitoring key environmental parameters in the Alpine Environment involving science, technology and application” in which different research organizations collaborated to develop multi-scale approaches for monitoring key environmental parameters at regional, orchard and plant level. Another aim of the project was monitoring the production processes and evaluating the feasibility of non-destructive assessments of fruit quality.
In order to reduce losses in the post-harvest, Laimburg Research Centre worked on non-destructive techniques to assess quality, maturity and storability of apple fruit. In this context, the experts of Laimburg collaborated with leading institutes throughout Europe.
The investigated novel techniques showed promising results, but are not the most suitable for assessing fruit flesh traits. Given the many shortcomings of these evaluations, efforts towards relating the non-destructively obtained indices with sensory, tasting parameters should be made. The results could have a potential for further improving pre- and post-harvest management of apple fruit quality by adding knowledge regarding environmental factors, by simplifying the decisions on the time of optimal harvest, by predicting the ripening behavior during storage and shelf-life, and by enabling grading of fruit based on their internal quality and their susceptibility to disorders.

The project ECOPHYTO national apple network aims to evaluate apple production systems combining different strategies to protect crops from pests and diseases, to maintain the soil and to manage crop load. It is conducted on six experimental sites that are representative of French apple production and is coordinated by the Ctifl. The aim is to analyze the efficacy and feasibility of strategies that are implemented and to define technical, economic and environmental indicators. All the levers are used: genetics, prophylaxis, biocontrol, physical control measures, biological control, mechanization, spraying techniques, reasoned chemical control and organic agriculture. The present report represents the results of year 2016.

The main research topics for blackcurrant, raspberry, strawberry, wild strawberry, blackberry, sea buckthorn at LRCAF are: variety testing and breeding, management systems, growing and plant protection technologies.
At LRCAF 5 strawberry, 4 wild strawberry, 2 raspberry, and 20 blackcurrant varieties were developed. Lithuanian farmers growing local breeding strawberry variety ‘Dangė’, wild strawberry - ‘Dena’, ‘Meda’, ‘Redita’, ‘Elina’, raspberry - 'Vizija’, ‘Mistika’, blackcurrants - ‘Gagatai’, ‘Joniniai’, ‘Almiai’, ‘Gojai’ and ‘Pilėnai’ et. all. 2 strawberry hybrids (N051901, N082901) and 2 blackcurrant varieties (‘Aldoniai’ and ‘Didikai’) evaluated at DUS testing.
In 2017 8 clones of strawberry, 5 clones of blackcurrant were selected, 14 introduced strawberry varieties were evaluated. 6 F. vesca × F. nipponica F2 and F3 interspecific hybrids, 4 F. vesca (alpine, cultivated) × F. vesca (wood) F3 hybrids, 11 selected lines of unknown origin and standard alpine strawberry cultivars were evaluated. Raspberry, blackberry and sea buckthorn varieties evaluation continued.
In LRCAF developed soft fruit growing technologies and varieties are important for local farmers. Centre close coloborated with Lithuanian joint-stock companies. These cooperation created a new advanced research-based products, conducted an experimental research, various measurements or construct a prototypes, created new or improved the existing growing and processed technologies.

Varieties & rootstocks: taste, resistance, low in allergens, good shelf-life & storage. Breeding techniques based on genetic modification would be indispensable to broaden the genetic basis of tolerance to pathogens. Problem resistant varieties: other diseases prominent, resistance breakdown
Soil fertility: resources internal to the system, minimize off-farm inputs. Next to the yield, evaluation of the effect of fertilization consider fruit quality & shelf-life. Organic fertilizers with nutrient composition close to needs of the fruit trees needed.
Plant health: Biodiversity & plant protection products
Weed: Combination tillage & light cover of tree row with cut vegetation & machinery removing weed by brushing. Green manure period before planting
Disease: indirect methods: robust varieties; scab: reduction of ascospore concentration. Direct methods: copper, sulphur, lime sulphur, carbonates. Reduce copper: robust varieties, reduce infestation potential, forecasting models, new products, rain covers. Storage: hot water treatments
Pest: functional biodiversity: little knowledge about occurrence & biology of many predators. Rosy apple aphid: direct control measures. Apple sawfly: Quassia amara extracts. Codling moth: mating disruption & nets. New exotic pests can appear at any time
Thinning: i.a. transpiration inhibitors
Ecosystem services: Life-cycle-assessments needed

Crop regulation: lime sulphur, mechanical flower thinning.
Rosy apple aphid: neem extracts.
Scab: systematic treatments during the germ-phase of the spores developed. Lime sulphur through the overhead irrigation: preserves soil, reduces residues, saves time, spares beneficial organisms, reduces driftage.
Residues: copper, sulphur, K-phosphite, spinosad, drift-reduction techniques with nets were conducted
Mechanic and thermal weed control.
Soil management and fertilization: good nitrogen supply during the blossom affects the yields positively.
Organic-suitable measurements against soil apple replant disease: exchange of soil of planting row with the one of alley, application of compost, sowing of cruciferous plants, solarisation, steam sterilization and microbiological compounds.
Alternatives to cupper: introduction of carbonates. Diseases like alternaria and marssonina are central topics.
Gleosporium: if time frame for harvesting was met, acidic clay achieved some good results and hot water treatment before storage. Problematic are late maturing varieties, trials with rain covers.
Codling moth: netting-systems positive when medium pressure. Heavy pressure, infestation a few years later.
Woolly aphid: Attention to susceptibility of the varieties and rootstocks.
Thinning: application of transpiration inhibitors.
Agrobiodiversity: promotion of beneficial organisms through flower strips.

Fruit growers in Lithuania use modern growing technologies and begin using precision horticulture methods. Main problem is loss of yield due to damage by microorganisms, new technologies for ensuring safe and quality fruits are implemented. Biological and physical method usage for microorganism control during storage, instead of chemical protection, is increasing recently. Institute of Horticulture, Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry established long term research program in order to optimize fruit storage conditions and to evaluate fruit quality parameters during storage. Usage of non-destructive methods, such as visible light (400-700 nm) and near-infrared (NIR) (400-700 nm) spectroscopy was studied in postharvest fruit quality evaluation. Data obtained in these studies is published in local and international scientific journals, presented in conferences, seminars, and open days.

Fruit quality develops during the pre-harvest period. Therefore postharvest management is only possible to maintain or slow the reduction of quality loss. Focus has to be to monitor and investigate the factors that influence fruit quality during the phenological development of the fruit. Some pre-harvest factors that are under investigation at our institute are the nutrient supply to leaves and fruit and their relationships to the influence on the fruit quality as well as how the various fruit quality parameters are distributed within the fruit.
The second point of critical importance for fruit quality is the determination of the optimal harvest date, according to its intended storage options:
• for long term storage an ear1y harvest window.
• for a short storage period an intermediate harvest window
• If marketed directly after harvest, they can be harvested at a higher ripeness suitable for immediate consumption
The optimal harvest date should be determined for each region, orchard, cultivar and fruit type. So fruit quality can be optimized and the risk of fruit losses with caused by e.g. physiological disorders and/or fungal rots can be reduced.
Fruit storage technologies to maintain quality, are based on temperature control (cold storage} and modified atmospheres such as controlled atmosphere storage for example ULO or DCA, plus the use of 1-MCP.

Fruit thinning is an important activity for pipfruit growers that determines the economic result since higher prices are obtained for larger fruits. Although it increases fruit size and has a positive effect on the number of flower buds for the next season, the thinning effect of 6-BA is sometimes too small. Combination of 6-BA with NAA is possible, but can yield over thinning in pear. Metamitron at 165 g a.i. (Brevis 1.1 kg/ha) results in reliable and profitable thinning and larger pears. However, cloudiness with low radiation and high night temperatures in the days before and after Brevis application can result in too strong thinning as well as the use after strong frost during or shortly after bloom.

Also in apple 6-BA has a rather weak thinning effect and a small positive effect on fruit size, but it stimulates flower bud development. Combination with NAA is possible on apple. Brevis at 1.1 kg/ha suffices for a moderate thinning. For strong thinning or cultivars that are difficult to thin it is best to use 1.1 kg/ha twice (second time can be limited to the top of the trees), while one application at 1.65 kg/ha is advised for ‘Golden’. Similar care as with pear should be taken when Brevis is used under bad weather conditions of low radiation and high night temperatures or after frost damage during bloom.

Among the techniques that can be used in orchards by growers, thinning is one of the most efficient. Above all, successful thinning governs the economic result of the orchard not only the year it is carried out, but also in the following years. This operation has several effects which influence both quantitative and qualitative components and which lead to: increase in size, improvement in organoleptic criteria (mainly sugar content, but also acidity, firmness or even flavour) and colour, production streamlining (by minimizing biannual bearing).
Even if the technique is effective for reducing load, it appears no less difficult to implement. Chemical thinning is not an exact science. Several factors interact. This point is directly related to the origin of this technique, which simply amplifies natural apple tree load regulation. Tree exerts a buffering effect that is difficult to understand. We get around this buffering effect by applying various complementary hormones in sequence.
Currently, modes of action are hormonal with the use of products containing, auxins, cytokinines or ethylene and since 2015 a new one photosynthesis inhibition.

Fruit thinning on apples is in NW Europe mainly performed chemically with ATS and BA.products. The widely used high spindle shape of trees is not very suitable for mechanical thinning and practical results are divers and unpredictable. The 6-BA products as Excelis / MaxCel / Globaryl are preferred. They act selectively and promoting flower bud. In NW Europe, however, often the temperature is too low at the stage of 10-14 mm. With the addition of NAA, the effect of BA-thinning can be enhanced. Brevis with the active ingredient metamitron has been approved since 2015 as a thinning agent. This effect of fruitthinning is stronger, but also more erratic than BA. Often, a pre-thinning is done with the ATS and later made a choice between BA or Brevis depending
on the temperature at the time of 10-14 mm fruit size.
On pears BA-products are not strong enough to get a proper thinning. On pears only Ethrel and Brevis can be used as chemical
thinners. The application of Brevis results in a smoother fruitskin. BA-products can cause little more russeting. Application of small
dosages Ethrel after F2 gives almost always a flowerbud stimulating effect.

Fruit thinning on apples is in NW Europe mainly performed chemically with ATS and BA.products. . The widely used high spindle shape of trees is not very suitable for mechanical thinning and practical results are divers and unpredictable. The 6-BA products as Excelis / MaxCel / Globaryl are preferred. They act selectively and promoting flower bud. In NW Europe, however, often the temperature is too low at the stage of 10-14 mm. With the addition of NAA, the effect of BA-thinning can be enhanced. Brevis with the active ingredient metamitron has been approved since 2015 as a thinning agent. This effect of fruitthinning is stronger, but also more erratic than BA. Often, a pre-thinning is done with the ATS and later made a choice between BA or Brevis depending on the temperature at the time of 10-14 mm fruit size.

On pears BA-products are not strong enough to get a proper thinning. On pears only Ethrel and Brevis can be used as chemical thinners. The application of Brevis results in a smoother fruitskin. BA-products can cause little more russeting. Application of small dosages Ethrel after F2 gives almost always a flowerbud stimulating effect.

There is a growing market for organic apples and pears and fruits without pesticide residues in Europe. It has led to the development of alternative growing systems and altered protocols for spraying in the orchard that enables a production of first class fruits without pesticide residues and blemishes at harvest. However, these fruits have a shorter storability due to increased storage rot. Hot water treatment at the time of harvest is an eco -friendly way to reduce rot in storage but it needs careful adjustment of temperature and time to prevent later tissue browning and increased secondary infections by Penicillium expansum of the fruit. A method was developed to monitor the immediate response of apple fruit to hot water treatment and it showed that later tissue browning could be predicted from the emission of volatile organic compounds at the time of treatment. The activities are ongoing to uncover if the method can be replaced by other, more simple methods. There has also been focus on early detection of storage rot. Volatiles have been collected from natural and artificially infected apples during 7 month storage at refrigerated air. The results show that healthy and diseased apples differ in their volatile emission however the method needs further development to be used in the industry for on-line measurements of quality changes during storage.

Post-harvest losses of apples in the supply chain and wastage in the home can be reduced by improved orchard management practices. Prediction models based on weather patterns and mineral analysis of apples at harvest provide apple growers with advice on the storage potential of orchard consignments. The calcium and phosphorous content of apples and the ratio of calcium/potassium and calcium/nitrogen has an important bearing on fruits storage potential. Fruit analysis 2-3 weeks before the predicted harvest date allows growers to designate apple consignments for short, medium and long-term storage. Apples growing in hot and dry conditions are prone to developing superficial scald and weather data is used to help predict the onset of scald. Manipulation of crop load and tree architecture can favour better partitioning of carbohydrates into fruit, improving the proportion of fruit dry matter, leading to higher sugar content and improved consumer acceptability.
Pre-harvest fungicide sprays limits post-harvest rotting caused by a range of pathogens infecting flowers and developing fruits. Understanding the rot history of an orchard helps fruit growers to develop specific control programmes. Rots risk analysis based on previous history of ex-store rots, age of trees, sward management, rainfall patterns at flowering and near harvest are used to predict the likelihood of specific disease pathogens infecting fruit and the amount of disease to expect during storage.

Part of the complex research program regarding the introduction of methods and technologies in organic farming, two important aspects are presented: one concerning the quality of petal production in edible rose and its correlation with the state of soil nutrition, and another with the importance of windbreaks around the orchards in an ecological system, which can attract birds useful in phyto-sanitary protection.

Research has shown that irrigation in ‘Conference’ pears increases fruit size resulting in a higher yield and higher economic turnover. To assist pear growers in optimizing their yields the Soil Service of Belgium and pcfruit established an irrigation and fertigation service system PWARO that gives orchard specific advice based on soil sample analysis, leaf mineral analysis, fruit set and a soil water balance model. Every week the growers get advice for steering their irrigation system taking the weather predictions into account. However, variations (in soil texture, tree age, etc.) exist in orchards and to better take these variations into account in the PWARO advise satellite image analysis will be offered to pear growers as a new service. The water status can be derived from the satellite images and there is a strong relation between water status and fruit size. In addition, the PWARO service is extending to sweet cherry growers in 2017.
Trials in soil-grown strawberry are ongoing at pcfruit to determine the irrigation and nitrogen thresholds as well as the optimal application strategies to minimize inputs and drainage losses and maximize fruit quality. Using sensors irrigation thresholds for several berries growing in substrate are being investigated, while optimization of raspberry fertilization is ongoing, too.

The top fruit industry within the UK mainly consists of apple and pear production in a variety of growing systems, the older systems are in traditional orchards but many newer orchards are now being planted as high intensity orchards. Stone fruit mainly consist of cherries and plums, with cherries mainly grown under protection during the cropping phase (May-August). All crops are soil grown and are predominantly grown in the South East of England, although cider apples are mainly grown in the South West of England. Traditionally orchards were not irrigated relying solely on rain fed but in recent years some of the older orchards have begun to be irrigated and the majority of newly planted high intensity orchards do receive irrigation. Irrigation to the crops is fundamental to maximizing cropping potential and consistency from one year to the next, and is key to maximizing fruit quality and uniformity. Irrigation is especially important in years where there is low rainfall during the summer months. Grower interviews conducted by NIAB EMR has shown that growers rank efficient irrigation as key to their crop performance but there is a wide variation in the amount of water that is applied to a particular crop. Research trials/experiments at NIAB EMR has shown that precision irrigation tools and techniques results in significant savings in the amount of water and fertilizer applied to the crop, with improvements in yield and fruit quality also being achieved.

The soft fruit industry within the UK mainly consists of strawberry and raspberry production in a variety of growing systems, for example protected, un-protected, soil grown and substrate. Irrigation to these crops, especially in protected and substrate grown systems is fundamental to crop survival and productivity. Grower interviews conducted by NIAB-EMR has shown that growers rank efficient irrigation as key to their crop performance but there is a wide variation in the amount of water that is applied to a particular crop. Research trials/experiments at NIAB-EMR for both soil and substrate grown crops has shown that precision irrigation tools and techniques results in significant savings in the amount of water and fertilizer applied to the crop, with improvements in yield and fruit quality also being achieved.

Integrated fruit production systems rely on pest, disease and weed control with specific pesticides, which spare beneficial organisms. This leads to crop protection strategies with a larger number of different pesticides. However, consumers demand a reduction of pesticide use in agriculture and ideally the elimination of pesticide residues in order to minimize the impact on the environment and the risk for human health. Wholesalers introduced quality management systems in to reduce residues and the use of plant protection products. For several years, Agroscope tested a low residue strategy from a technical and economic point of view. The production of residue-free apples is possible under Swiss conditions if the crop protection strategy against fungal diseases is adapted and alternative measures such as insect exclusion netting, mating disruption against codling moth (Cydia pomonella), mulching with leaves to reduce scab (Venturia inaequalis) inoculum, and modern storage techniques are applied. The production of such low-residue apples meets consumer demand, but the economic calculation showed that the low-residue strategy is not profitable without a price premium compared to integrated production. In the frame of a transnational project in the lake of constance region these innovative crop protection strategies will be further developed.

Two methods for enhancing the soil fertility before and after the organic orchard planting are presented. By sowing three ameliorative plants: Sinapis alba, Tagetes patula and Phacelia tanacetifolia in a terrain prepared for planting and between rows after the planting of jam rose orchard, a substantial enhancement of the soil physical, agrochemical and biological characteristic of the soil were observed. An increase of soil content in N, P, K and humus was measured. By supplementary mulching after planting with wool and wood chips, the mentioned parameters increased.
The Pray Birds protection and monitoring at our Didactic farm showed that the Long-Eared Owls (Asio otus) is wintering (roosting) in large groups in big conifer trees with dense canopy (Thuja orientalis) that protect them against the attack of other birds. By analysing the pellets at the end of the winter season it has been observed that, Long-Eared Owls, eat a large number of rodents as Common Dormouse (Muscardinus avellanarius), House Mouse (Mus musculus) and Brown Rat (Rattus norvegicus), representing 89% of their total diet, and bringing important benefits to the horticulture ecosystems.
A method of controlling pests in ecosystems of ecological orchards consists in the placement of artificial nests necessary for the protection and support of insectivorous birds in orchards and other horticultural ecosystems.

Two examples are presented as practice to minimize pesticide residues in apple fruits: i) pest and diseases protection program applied in an organic apple orchard, based on insecticide/repellents mineral or plant oils and sulfur, copper-based fungicides or natural fungicides as plant extracts; ii) the possibility of reducing the number of insecticides treatments for Cydia pomonella, and thus reducing environmental pollution through application of Trichotim, a bioproduct based on parasitic wasp, Trichogramma evanescens.

There is a keen interest in the apricot production in Hungary. An apricot breeding program has been running at the NARIC Fruitculture Research Institute since 1950. The most important breeding aims are to expand the ripening time, create novel genotypes with early or late ripening time as well as to bred new cultivars with large fruit size, abundant yield, good fruit flesh firmness, good winter and frost hardiness, resistance/tolerance to the most important disease and pests. The costumers prefer cultivars having real apricot flavor.
There is a well-known standard cultivar in the Hungarian assortment called Magyar kajszi C. 235 (Hungarian best C. 235). The growers are satisfied with its ripening time, yield, fruit characteristics, winter and frost hardiness as well as the costumers look forward for its quality on the market. Weakness of this cultivar is its susceptivity to sharka virus infection. Four novel bred cultivars/candidates (Ceglédi napsugár, Ceglédi arany, Ceglédi kedves, Nyujtó Ferenc emléke) had been selected at the Research Institute. All four genotypes have the same fruit quality like Magyar kajszi C. 235, but their ripening time is a bit earlier and their tolerance to sharka is better than the standard cultivar.
The nectarin breeding program finished at NARIC. Classical breeding methods (selection from the local population, and naturalization) were used to create new genotypes for the Hungarian market. The latest approved cultivar from this breeding program is called Apolka, which ripening time is around mid August, between Flavortop and Fantasia. Apolka is a freestone cultivar with high productivity, 120 g fruit size (AAA), yellow and firm fruit flesh, excellent taste and medium vigor.

New innovative application techniques can be used to significantly reduce the emission of crop protection products. New application techniques are developed for fruit crops via crop-dependent spraying based on crop volume or crop row volume dosage, and adjusting spray parameters (such as air speed and nozzle type). It is estimated that this will result in application techniques in the highest drift reduction class that produce an emission reduction of at least 95%. These new techniques can significantly reduce emissions into the environment and the exposure of bystanders and local residents, while retaining a high level of biological effectiveness, and avoid overdosing on leaves and fruits.
Fungal diseases need free water to cause infections. Preventing the fruit to become wet, would prevent infections. Covering fruit crops with plastic or anti-rain nets showed in different regions within Europe a good control for several fungal diseases. In the Netherlands a project is started to work with retractable roofs that opens and closes automatically. In this way fungal diseases can be prevented and the microclimate can be regulated to prevent other diseases and pests. A significant reduction of sprays is expected.

Fruit growers in Lithuania use modern growing technologies and begin using precision horticulture methods. Main problem is loss of yield due to damage by microorganisms, new technologies for ensuring safe and quality fruits are implemented. Small fruit growing and processing is small industry in Lithuania. Several large factories process fruit and vegetables, however products from berries takes only small part in assortment. The most popular small fruits are strawberry, raspberry, blackcurrant or cranberry, mainly jams and juices are produced from concentrates. Institute of Horticulture, Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry established long term research program in order to create new products from fruits. Data obtained in these studies is published in local and international scientific journals, presented in conferences, seminars, and open days.

The need to increase resource use efficiency in fruit orchards is currently driving several research projects at EU level, from which interesting results have been generated. 1) OVERCANOPY IRRIGATION was considered by growers a viable tool to reduce the orchard temperature during heat waves. Results from an Operational Group within the 2014-2020 RDP of the Emilia Romagna region demostrate how this practice highly reduces water use efficiency, while not bringing consistent benefits to the production at harvest. 2) INTEGRATION OF A SPECIFIC SOFTWARE FOR FERTIGATION MANAGEMENT to IRRIFRAME. An operational group within the 2014-2020 RDP program of the Emilia Romagna developed a software for fertigation to be integrated within the national DSS “IRRIFRAME”, aimed at optimizing the use of mineral fertilizers, thus reducing the releases of pollutants and leaching, while increasing agriculture sustainability and adaptability to climate change. 3) REGULATED DEFICIT IRRIGATION PROTOCOLS. The application of specific RDI strategies maintaining drought stress within certain thresholds may lead to the improvement of fruit quality and storability through a reduction in the water use. Multiple year trials conducted on pear and kiwifruit showed how reductions in the water inputs from 70% to 50%, applied at specific phenological stages, can increase harvest fruit dry matter content up to 2%, although such reduction may also lead to a reduced fruit size.

(Prunus avium L. cv. Vanda, Kordia and Regina)
In a three-year project, in cooperation with the Fruit Science Section of the University of Hannover and the financial support of the cooperative Marktgemeinschaft Altes Land (MAL), the possibilities of a better maintenance of sweet cherries fruit and stem quality were investigated. Various scenarios for the handling of freshly harvested fruits were simulated. Particularly the influence of the residence time of the fruits in the field, the cooling and the storage technology on fruit quality have been measured. It was found that for the dehumidification of the stems and fruits mainly a high water saturation deficit of the surrounding air is responsible. This dehumidification already essentially takes place directly after the harvest still in the field where the saturation deficit and thus the loss of water is often more than 150 times higher than in a wet cooling room. Already a fairly airtight cover of the product with a simple freshkeeping foil reduces the dehumidification by more than 80%. Ideal is an aluminium-coated PE fi lm to protect the fruits also from direct sunlight. In principle, the product should be cooled as quickly as possible for the best possible preservation of the fruit quality. This should be usually done with a forced-air cooler at -0.5 to 1 ° C air temperature and 100% humidity. The moisture and cooling chain must then be ensured up to the consumer.

The new peach/nectarine variety should be consistently productive, tolerant to major diseases, endowed with prolonged on-tree keeping quality with concentrated harvest (few pickings), the fruit being tolerant to disorders and handlings, with good fruit external (large size, well-coloured skin) and internal (high firmness, good taste and flavour) quality. The new sweet cherry varieties should be self-fertile, consistently productive, tolerant to major diseases, the fruit being tolerant to skin cracking, with good fruit external (large size, well-coloured skin) and internal (high firmness, good taste and flavour) quality.
The new cultivars in evaluation at CREA-FRF are organized in 3 trees/cultivar plots (2 trees/plot for sweet cherry) and grafted onto the peach x almond hybrid GF677 (peach cvs.) and Colt (sweet cherry cvs.). The evaluation is carried out from 3 to 5 years after the first cropping by using 58 (peach) and 35 (sweet cherry) phenological, pomological and agronomic descriptors, mostly UPOV descriptors, based on which the global performance of each cultivar is scored. Quantitative traits are measured or scored according to a 1-9 scale. In the last 5 years, 172 variety selections of peaches and nectarines and 29 varieties of sweet cherry, coming from important breeding programs worldwide, have been under evaluation. CREA collection includes also several Reference cultivars (eg. the nectarine Big Top and the peach cvs. Redhaven and Rome Star; the sweet cherry Burlat, Lapins and Ferrovia), useful to harmonize the evaluation and characterization activity and comparatively score the new entries. All the trees are managed under IPM conditions. At the regional (Emilia-Romagna) level, the testing activity is done with UNIBO and CRPV, including the co-organization of fruit exhibitions of the novelties dedicated to farmers and technicians.

Research has shown that irrigation in ‘Conference’ pears increases fruit size resulting in a higher yield and higher economic turnover. To assist pear growers in optimizing their yields the Soil Service of Belgium and pcfruit established an irrigation and fertigation service system PWARO that gives orchard specific advice based on soil sample analysis, leaf mineral analysis, fruit set and a soil water balance model. Every week the growers get advice for steering their irrigation system taking the weather predictions into account. More than 85% of the orchards under PWARO support irrigated between 90 and 180 mm water (900-1800 m3/ha) in 2017 when a long dry period occurred from March until June. However, variations exist in orchards and to better take these variations into account in the PWARO advise satellite image analysis was offered to pear growers as a new service in 2017. The water status can be derived from the satellite images and there is a strong relation between water status and fruit size.
Based on 3 years of field experiments nitrogen fertilization and irrigation guidelines have been established for soil grown strawberries. Under the assumption that no nitrogen remains in the soil after winter, a nitrogen fertilization advice of 50 kg/ha and 100 kg/ha is advised for ‘Elsanta’ (late culture and June bearers) and ‘Portola’ (ever bearer), respectively. However, if soil analysis after winter reveals a remaining supply of nitrogen then the abovementioned nitrogen fertilization should be corrected for this amount. The threshold level of soil water tension or potential reaches down to -30 kPa and -55 kPa for ‘Elsanta’ and ‘Portola’, respectively.

Significant amounts of pesticides are used for pest management in orchards all over the world. The inadequate usage of pesticides has become unacceptable because its leads to the resistance of pathogen. Biocontrol, the use of botanical extracts and other organic methods need to be strengthened.

New non-chemical food safety technologies reducing berry rots and extending storage time are new environment friendly tools. Photosensitization is an innovative method for inhibition of pathogens in berry and is based on the interaction of light (λ = 400 nm, 20 mW cm-2) and photoactive compound (chlorophyllin derivative). One of the main advantages of photosensitization is the absence of any harmful effects on antioxidant activity, total phenolics, anthocyanins or color with the significant extent of strawberry shelf-life of treated strawberries.
Therefore, it is necessary to encourage research into the effectiveness and practical application of environment friendly products for plant protection.

The French Ecophyto Plan aims to reduce the number of treatments in agriculture. In this frame, Ctifl started from 2010 to study the protection of apples against rain with plastic covers placed on the top of the trees. Trials are at the Ctifl Center called Lanxade in the South-West of France. Different types of rain cover have been studied. The efficacy has been successful on Braeburn and Gala, protecting the fruits without any additional fungicides, even in presence of little scab on shoots. In a new planted orchard, with a more susceptible variety, an outbreak of scab occurs under the covers from the start. The different possible causes are analyzed, through measuring climatic data, trapping spores and running RIMpro model. Furthermore, the microclimate under the rain covers seems to be favorable to powdery mildew, woolly aphids and sometimes on sooty blotch. The system could be improved with some treatments to avoid powdery mildew and the most severe scab infections, or even by applying plant resistance inducers.

Organic production is for many consumers equal to unsprayed production. When it comes to high-value crops like fruit in particular apples, this is not the case. Apples are a stationary, long lived culture with high demands for blemish-free fruit which necessitates spraying. In order to reduce spraying and bring organic production more in line with consumer expectancies alternative strategies are investigated. Covered production using a plastic rain roof is one such strategy. At the Institute of Food, AU we have documented that rainroofs are highly efficient in reducing scab, the most important fungal disease in apple, and the one requiring the most sprays. Over a four years period, the rain roof reduced scab occurrence from 85 % in the unsprayed control down to only 5 % of fruits of two very susceptible cultivars. The rain roofs proved as efficient against scab as the sprayed control, where sulphur and potassium bicarbonate were sprayed a total of 25-30 times per season. Brutto yield in the covered and sprayed treatments were at level, but brutto yield was reduced by 10-90% in the unsprayed control (‘Aroma’ was the best producing variety and ‘Rubens’. Further, the rainroof reduced rot diseases significantly to just 2% of the stored fruit. The many sprays with sulphur and potassium bicarbonate had no effect on rots and in average 20% of the fruits from the un-covered organic production developed rots during storage and shelflife. Despite reduced light levels under the roof, no detrimental effects on neither yield, fruit size, fruit colour nor internal quality of fruit could be documented. Experiments involving a commercial covering system are on-going in pears, and preliminary results appear to confirm the results from the apple experiment.

The report is divided into three parts: In the first part, strategies for aphid control in apple production without detectable residues at the time of harvest are summed up. The second part deals with initial results for the control and / or promotion of pests and beneficial insects through the adapted mulching of orchard alleyways and adjacent areas. In the third part, findings on the population dynamics and approaches to control Drosophila suzukii in Germany are given.

Chemical synthetic pesticides are needed to produce high quality fruits. However, the use of pesticides is put more and more into question in Switzerland. One possible solution to reduce the amount of applied insecticides in orchards are side nets to exclude pest insects. To investigate the influence of these nets on pest insects and the microclimate, Agroscope started in 2012 a long-term research project with the varieties Opal and Milwa-Diwa. Out of 16, eight tree rows are only covered with a hail net, whereas the other half is additionally enclosed with a fine-meshed side net from full bloom until harvest. Since 2016, the effects of the side net on pest and beneficial insects, fruit growth, the photosynthetic activity, the amount of fruits harvested, the fruit quality and the microclimate are measured.
First results indicate that side nets successfully protect apple orchards from pest insects without influencing temperature or fruit quality at harvest. However, undesirable side effects may occur as a consequence of increased humidity and reduced wind speed in plots with side nets. In 2017, therefore, we will also measure if fungal infections are increased in plots with side nets than in those without.
In 2018, a new model orchard with the varieties Gala and Bonita was planted. In addition to side nets to exclude pest insects, we will also install a rain cover to reduce fungal infections and thereafter hopefully apply not only fewer insecticides but also fewer fungicides.

The focus of the variety testing of all soft fruit varieties is to give a recommendation of cultivable varieties for the North German area, taking into account cultivation system, fertilization and water management, location (soil) and profitability for cultivation, for direct marketing and marketing through the food retail. The results of the variety examination are of crucial importance for success or failure in practice and therefore have a key role in the strategic planning of the growers and variety breeding.
Our research is based on three pillars: Variety testing, trials on current pest management issues, and cultivation and cultural practices.
The aim of our work is to promote and expand the competitiveness of North German berry fruit cultivation. New and old varieties are continuously tested and tested for their competitiveness.
Our results are the basis for the decisions and advice of advisory councils, marketing organizations, trade, growers, research institutions, authorities and ministries and professional bodies.

The report describes newer breeding and selection processes carried out in sour cherries at Aarhus University, Denmark. Status for a selected number of genotypes is given including a description of the range of fruit quality in the progeny of the different crosses. Based on a methodology study of ‘rapid cycling breeding’ a number of crosses have been performed involving both Danish and foreign cultivars. These have been and are continually being evaluated in respect to fruit quality, tolerance against diseases (cherry leaf spot and monilia) and frost in winter and spring.

A number of genotypes have been selected based on their disease tolerance, yield and fruit quality in relation to a broader spectrum of products. These have been grafted on three different root stocks and planted at the AU site in Årslev, where they will be followed in the coming years. Further selected genotypes aimed at organic production of sour cherries will be propagated and planted in 2016/17.

The cultivation of Stone fruits in South Tyrol is quite limited and the growing area only reaches a surface of 159 ha. The prevalent drupes of the region are cherries (85 ha), apricots (67 ha), prunes (3ha) and peach (4 ha). The farmers cultivating stone fruits are usually doing so as a sideline, next to apples. Most of the stone fruit is cultivated in the Vinschgau Valley (86.3 ha in 2016).

Stone fruits are currently only sold on the local market. The experiences of SKST with stone fruits are quite limited, which might change if the cultivation of supplementing crops to the apple is to augment. Hereafter, a short overview on the stone fruit-growing in South Tyrol is given.

The main stone fruits grown in South Tyrol are cherries and apricots. Regarding cherries, the cultivated varieties in South Tyrol are prevalently Kordia (45%) and Regina (45%). The rootstocks used for cherries are GISELA5 (95%), GISELA6 and PIKU1 (together 5%). Essentially, cherry growing in South Tyrol occurs exclusively with protection against the rain. Additionally, Cherries grow on elevations of 800 – 1500 m asl and are harvested in July and August. High elevations work also well for apricots. These fruits grow between 400 – 1100 m asl in the region of South Tyrol and apricots are harvested in July until mid August. St. Julien A is the main rootstock used with apricots, while the by far most cultivated variety is the local Vinschger Marille (80%).

The main research topics for stone fruits at LRCAF are: variety testing and breeding, management systems, and plant protection.
Most important parameters for Lithuanian agro climatic conditions is winter hardiness, resistant to spring frost, late flowering, resistant to main important fungal diseases, and high fruit quality.
In 2017 at gene bank collection evaluated 80 sweet cherry, 70 sour cherry, 130 plum and 10 apricot varieties and genotypes. These accesions are used for breeding purposes. The evaluation of the stone varieties is conducted according to the Cherry Desciptor List and Plum and Allied Species Descriptor List (International Board for Plant Genetic Resources).
Lithuanian sweet cherry cultivars ‘Jurgita’, ‘Mindaugė’, ‘Jurga’, ‘Meda’, the sour cherry cultivars ‘Vytėnų žvaigždė’ and ‘Notė’, the plum cultivars ‘Gynė’, ‘Jūrė’, ‘Rausvė’, ‘Kauno vengrinė’, and ‘Aleksona’ increasing profitability for fruit growers. 3 sweet cherry and 1 sour cherry varieties evaluated at DUS testing, developed 26 new stone fruits promising hybrids.
In LRCAF developedgrowing technologies and varieties are important for local farmers. LRCAF close coloborated with Lithuanian association of commercial orchards ”Fruit and Berries” and other joint-stock companies. These cooperation created a new advanced research-based products, conducted an experimental research, various measurements or construct a prototypes, created new or improved the existing technologies.

The main research topics for stone fruits at the OVA are variety testing of sweet cherries, rootstocks, planting and training systems and variety and rootstock testing of plums and prunes.

The ideal cherry variety for Northern Germany should be early large, firm, dark, productive and less susceptible for Pseudomonas. Less susceptible for cracking is not very important, in the meantime is the covering of sweet cherries standard in Northern Germany. Wanted are varieties for the whole cherry season.

In 2017 we have 60 new varieties in the first screening (Level 1). In the second screening (Level 2) we actually testing 6 promising new varieties (Adelise, Aida, Areko, Henriette, Mika, and Penny). In level 2 we are testing 8 to maximum 20 trees per variety. The new varieties are supplemented with 15 standard varieties. The new varieties have to compete especially with the standard of the same ripening time.

Tasteful plums and prunes are very interesting and important for the local market. Now less promising new varieties are available. In future, we will plant plums that are more colored, mirabelles, reneklodes and just a few very promising new crossings.

In the research experimental field trials we are concentrating mainly on variety testing, rootstocks, training systems and fruit quality evaluation.
For sweet cherry, we are currently looking at over 40 varieties of the international assortment and 16 Romanian varieties. The most common ones are Kordia, Regina, Burlat, Van, Stella and New Star. Of the Romanian varieties, the Rubin and Severin variety. The most widely used rootstocks are Gisela 5 and Gisela 6 for the newly established plantations and the P. mahaleb for the oldest orchards. The promoted training systems are Vertical Axe, Bi-Baum or Trident.
Regarding sour cherry, we have in evaluation and testing especially varieties of the Hungarian assortment, grafted on mahaleb and trained as bush-vase or central leader type.
Over 25 plums varieties are studied, including: Cacanska lepotica, Elena, Presenta, TopHit, Jojo, President, Bluefree, Centenary and Record. Rootstocks tested are: Mirobolan 29 C, Weiwa, Wawit, Docera 6 and Dospina 235. The training system: Bush-vase, Trident, Vertical Axe.
In apricot we have over 25 Romanian varieties and over 35 foreign varieties that are in evaluation. Tres are led as Vertical Axe, Bi-Baum, Drapeaux Marchand, Mikado and Trident. The basic common rootstock is Mirobolan 29C.
On peach and nectarine there are about 50 varieties of native and Italian, US origin, grafted on the GF 677 rootstock. Vertical Axe is the latest training system used for trainning.

At Laimburg Research Centre, research on berries currently focuses on strawberries. Variety testing and breeding represent the focus of the research.
Strawberries are highly susceptible to pedo-climatic conditions and to the cultivation management, thus, it is fundamental to test every variety in a specific growing area. This allows to determine the suitability of a variety for a certain pedoclimatic condition and to assess if the variety has the potential to provide economic advantages for the farmers.
The Laimburg strawberry breeding program started in 2010 in collaboration with the CREA-OFA (Forlí (Italy)). The aim of the breeding program is to obtain new superior strawberry genotypes, which should be suitable for the alpine environment (especially regarding the resistance to late frosts), have an extraordinary quality, a unique taste, guarantee the profitability to local farmers and be pest-disease tolerant, to achieve a sustainable production. At present, 8 selections reached an advanced selection phase. Last year, 1 selection was positively evaluated, presenting a very good yield, good fruit size, maintained for the whole harvesting period, attractive colour, shape and taste. This year it will be tested at a larger scale.
Other berry fruits, as raspberry, black- and red- currant, blueberry and blackberry play a minor role in South Tyrol.

The UK soft fruit sector, of which strawberries are the dominant crop, continues to grow steadily. Variety trialling of soft fruit is no longer funded by the levy board (Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board-AHDB) but limited information on East Malling Strawberry Breeding Club (EMSBC) and UK Raspberry Breeding Consortium (JHI – Scotland) is made available via AHDB factsheets as AHDB contributes to fund both programmes. Other testing is carried out by private companies, principally producer organisations and private breeding companies, and the results of these trials is not publically shared.
There are currently two strawberry genetic improvement programmes at NIAB EMR: East Malling Strawberry Breeding Club (EMSBC) that receives both public and private funding, and a full private one that concentrates in selection for glasshouse cropping. NIAB EMR also manages privately funded raspberry and blackberry breeding. Variety testing is key in all three programmes.
The James Hutton Institute in Scotland in partnership with different industry partnes also runs breeding programmes for raspberry, blackberry, blackcurrant and more recently blueberry. All of this programmes include a component of variety testing within them often carried out in collaboration with commercial stakeholders.
Additionally, several producer organisations have close links with private breeding programmes operating in the UK or selecting varieties elsewhere for UK trialling.

Development of a new pruning system for super-high-density-orchard systems in sour cherry.

The goal at Aarhus University, Department of Food Science is to develop orchard systems for several industry fruit shrubs and tree species that can all be harvested by the same machine, a New Holland 9090X Dual harvester, thus increasing use and cost-efficiency of such a big investment in a harvester. In sour cherry we are currently testing how to transform and create a super-high-density-orchard system adapted to harvest by this machine in the future. The overall model will be trees grafted on semi dwarf root stocks, planted in 1-1.5 m distance in the row and with 3 - 3.5 m distance between rows. Trees will have a straight vertical main trunk and pruned to establish many thin horizontal shoots from the trunk of up to 4 years of age adaptable to the passage between horizontal tunnel shakers. Mechanical pruning will be done to renew a portion of shoots every year. Branches thicker than about 1.5 cm will be pruned back to the trunk for creating new thin shoots. A maximum height of 2.5 - 2.7 m of the tree trunk is maintained to fit into the harvester but allowing thin shoots to reach up to 3 m height. Pruning and shaping methods how to create such a tree model from newly planted young trees or from an existing high density orchard is currently undertaken using Stevnsbær sour cherry cultivars and other international cultivars. Cultivars with characteristics adaptable to this new system will be sought.

The sweet cherry breeding program at UNIBO has been releasing innovative cvs that are meeting growers' interest. They are being tested in many sweet cherry growing regions in Europe and the rest of the world, and exclusive rights of cultivation are being negotiated with growers' organizations on a worldwide basis. The major focus is on fruit quality (very sweet, firm, large and dark red), productive, early or late ripening, low in vigour. In addition, the program also trials training systems for very high density, and innovative pruning systems. Low vigor rootstocks and orchard protection systems are also studied. Until now, rain covers have proven only partly effective in reducing cracking, since one cause of the disorder is related to the amount of water the tree absorbs through the roots system. Total orchard enclosure systems are also trialed, in order to limit pesticide application and improve the control of insect pests, including Drosophila Suzuki. Sweet cherry is one of the alternative stone fruit that can be grown in place of peach, which is enduring a loss of profitability that is still decreasing its acreages across the Country. This species is enjoying quite some interest by growers in different parts of Italy, that go from the Alps in the North to Apulia in the South. Japanese plums are also very sought after, particularly the black-fruited varieties such as Angeleno. Apricots are also expanding, with the new, later cvs bringing premium prices to the growers.

INRA-Bordeaux started its sweet cherry breeding programme in 1960’s. Since, few varieties have been tested in the national variety testing network level 1 and 2. The most known released varieties are Fercer’, ‘Folfer’, but also ‘Ferdouce’, ‘Fermina’, ‘Fertille’, ‘Ferdiva’ and ‘Fertard’. The last variety released from the INRA sweet cherry program was ‘Feroni’.

Decission Suport Systems (DSS) to assist on the fine tuning of the apple thinning strategies have been identified as potential innovations that would help achieving better performance of thinning strategies. Malusim, AgRadar and Greene method are the DSS that are being evaluated and demonstrated in close cooperation with local network of technical consultants and apple growers. On the other hand, combination of soil water content monitoring using IoT and prediction of estimated ETc resulting in recommended orchard specific irrigation water volumes that can be automatically delivered to irrigaition controller is another technology that is being implemented in apple orchards.

The main topics for all soft fruits are variety testing, crop protection, cropping systems, fertilisation, soil & water and rendability.
Since a correct variety choice is to a large extent decisive for the achieved result and as a consequence also for the income of a grower, most new soft fruit varieties are tested at the department field research berryfruits of pcfruit. This happens in growing conditions comparable with these of the growers. Results are summarized, published and are available for the Belgian soft fruit growers.
New varieties/selections of strawberries are screened in open field conditions, with production, fruit classification, harvest period and fruit quality as main research characteristics. In 2017, twenty new short-day varieties were evaluated. Six early varieties were evaluated in a tunnel production and seven varieties as a table top crop. Optimalisation tests were performed for Malling Centenary and Magnum. There were 19 new day-neutral varieties evaluated in open field condition. Optimalisation tests were performed for Verity and Harmony. Seven varieties were tested as a table top crop.
In 2017, 22 varieties of floricane raspberry were evaluated as a container crop in an unheated tunnel production; five of these varieties will move to phase 2 of the variety screening. In 2017 there were also 22 primocane raspberry varieties evaluated as a container crop. Other variety trials were performed for goose berries, red and white currants and blackberries.

In France, the strawberry industry (from the producer to the retailer) is focused on fruit quality to meet the consumer demand for a “made in France” high quality strawberry. Varietal choice is the first step of quality elaboration.
Testing new strawberry varieties is organized around a national network including Ctifl and four regional stations. Ctifl is coordinating this national network. It takes in account all the steps of the supply chain (from the producer to the retailer) to meet the consumer requirements in terms of price and quality.
The national production aims to differentiate a national quality from the foreign production. To develop a new variety means to meet a balance between diseases and pest resistance, yield, appearance, shelf life ability, taste,...
In 2017, twenty cultivars were evaluated in Balandran Ctifl center toward reference varieties Gariguette, Clery, Darselect and Matis.

The aim of variety testing at Laimburg Research Centre (LRC) is the identification of phenology, production and quality of the fruits, and the resistance against diseases to come up with recommendations for the growers.
Kordia and Regina, medium and late-maturing, are the two main cherry varieties grown in South Tyrol. The working group (WG) for Berries and Stone fruit at LRC is looking for early varieties as alternatives. Kordia faces some problems related to replant disease. Therefore, the WG is executing tests with different rootstocks for Kordia.
The variety Vinschger is the predominantly cultivated apricot variety in South Tyrol. Therefore, the WG conducted pomological tests with this variety to find the best selection.
A challenge for the both cherries and apricots is spring frost. Increased research towards late flowering varieties and knowledge-exchange with other experts are crucial in this regard.
The central problem with cherries represents Drosophila Suzukii. Early varieties might be interesting if they mature before the presence of the fly to reduce losses due to the insect.
With apricots, the European Stone Fruit Yellow poses the major challenge. Currently, research is conducted in collaboration with the Edmund Mach Foundation. More research in this regard in collaboration with other institutes is essential.
Resistant varieties and rootstocks would be interesting. Up to now, no resistant varieties are known, but research should go increasingly in this direction.

The report deals with results for weed control in pome fruit growing. In particular, the focus is on the avoidance or reduction of glyphosate-containing products through the increased use of soil-active herbicides and the inclusion of mechanical weed control in the herbicide strategy in integrated fruit production.