Good Fruit Grower

March 15

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48 MARCH 15, 2015 GOOD FRUIT GROWER www.goodfruit.com FMC releases biofungicide F MC Corporation has developed a new broad-spectrum, biological fungicide called Fracture for control of powdery mildew, botrytis, and brown rot blossom blight. It is registered for use on grapes, almonds, strawberries, and tomatoes. The active ingredient is Banda de Lupinus albus doce (BLAD), a naturally occurring seed storage protein from the sweet lupine plant, which has a new mode of action. It works on contact by deforming and inhibiting fungal cell production, tearing apart the cell wall and disrupting the fungal cell membrane. Fungal cells are killed within eight hours. The fungicide has a four-hour re-entry interval and a one-day preharvest interval and can be used up to fi ve times per season. This is the fi rst biological fungicide the company has developed since it launched its Biosolutions initiative two years ago. Companion has organic listing G rowth Products of White Plains, New York, has intro- duced Companion, a new broad-spectrum biolog- ical fungicide that has been approved for use in organic production. The active ingredient in Companion is Bacillus subtilis strain GB03, a naturally occurring rhizosphere bacterium that produces an antibiotic (iturin) that disrupts cell wall formation of the pathogen and colonizes the plant to exclude and prevent pathogen growth. Trials have shown that GB03 triggers induced systemic resistant in plants, by activating the plant's natural immune system to fi ght disease, according to information from Growth Products. Companion, a wettable powder, can be applied as a soil drench, foliar spray, or seed treatment on many crops, including fruits, vegetables, herbs, and nuts. Satellite imagery updated W ilbur-Ellis Company has reached an agreement with Planet Labs to provide satellite imagery for its AgVerdict software. AgVerdict is a decision-making tool that combines fi eld-specifi c data with agronomists' knowledge to max- imize a grower's return on investment. Data are stored on a cloud-based system and can be accessed from the fi eld with mobile devices. The software can be customized to the grower's operation and includes mapping, input use on a per-fi eld basis, performance monitoring, and record keeping. The agreement with Planet Labs, a space and data analytics company based in California, means growers will have more timely and frequent imagery, enabling them to make more effi cient decisions, according to a press release from Wilbur-Ellis. Planet Labs will soon be using ultra-compact satellites that will scan the planet every 24 hours. Biennial pear congress to begin B eginning this year, Italy's Interpoma congress and trade show, which focuses on apples, will be alternated with Futurpera, an exhibition devoted to pears. Interpoma, which is held every other year, was last held in November 2014 in Bolzano in the South Tyrol area. The fi rst biennial Futurpera exhibition will be held November 19-21 this year at the exhibition hall in Ferrara, which is in the heart of the Italian pear growing region, according to European Fruit Magazine. Portable tester measures sugar, color, and maturity F elix Instruments has introduced a hand-held meter for instantly and non-destructively measuring sugar content, color, and maturity of fruit. The F-750 NIR Handheld Produce Quality Meter enables producers to track fruit ripeness at every stage of development and from harvest through the sale of the produce. The instrument, which weighs one kilo (2.2 pounds), employs the same near-infrared technology used to measure fruit quality in packing houses. Go to www.felixinstruments.com for more information Fine growth regulator receives EPA approval F ine Americas, Inc., has received a Section 3 registration from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for the plant growth regulator Kudos (prohexadione calcium) for use on apples, sweet cherries, and other crops. The product is designed to reduce vegetative shoot growth and lessen the need for summer and dormant pruning. It can improve color in red and bi-colored apples by improving light penetration in the tree canopy, according to a press release from Fine Americas. Prohexadione calcium is the same active ingredient in the BASF product Apogee. Antibiotic registered for fi re blight control T he bactericide Kasumin (kasugamycin) has been registered in the apple growing states of Washington, Michigan, New York, and Oregon for control of fi re blight in apples and pears. It is registered for use on numerous crops in more than 20 countries around the world. Kasumin, a group 24 bactericide, is most effective when applied preventively and rotated with other products, according to the registrant Arysta LifeScience. Field testing has shown it can be tank-mixed with other fungicides. Arysta LifeScience was recently acquired by Platform Specialty Products Corporation for about $3.5 billion. This is Platform's third agrochemicals acquisition in recent months. It acquired the Agriphar Group last October and Chemtura AgroSolutions last November. Its new combined agrochemical business, which will oper- ate under the ArystaLifeScience trade name in more than 125 countries is expected to have more than $2 billion in annual sales. Check the website at www.kasumin.com for more information. GOOD TO GO For a complete listing of upcoming events, check the Calendar at www.goodfruit.com Crab apple pruning demos T wo pruning demonstrations have been sched- uled this month to help orchardists understand how to prune Manchurian crab apple trees in order to be eligible to export apples to China. The Chinese apple market, closed between 2012 and 2014 due to fruit infection caused by two post- harvest rots, recently reopened. The two pathogens survive in the orchard on cankered twigs and fruit of Manchurian crab apple and cause commercial fruit infection in the orchard, which leads to devel- opment of speck rot and sphaeropsis rot in storage. The work plan for exporting U.S. apples to China requires Manchurian crab apple pollinizer trees to be pruned to qualify orchards for the export of apples to China. Ongoing research has shown that pruning of dis- eased crab apples and drench applications of fun- gicides at harvest have effectively controlled these crab apple decays during storage. If growers regu- larly prune Manchurian crab apples in their orchard and appropriately apply fungicides, they should be able to reduce or eliminate fi nancial losses due to these diseases. Fungicide applications provide additional protection from infection, but alone may not provide adequate protection. Pruning reduces sources of inocula in the orchard, which increases fungicide effi cacy for control of these diseases. Northwest Fruit Exporters, the Northwest Horticultural Council, the Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission, and Washington State University have organized the pruning demonstrations at the following locations: —March 24, 10 a.m. at Herke Orchard, 14586 Summitview Road, Yakima (on the south side of Summitview, just east of Cowiche Mill Road). —March 26, 2 p.m. at 5 Star Orchard, 19665 Road 5 SW, Quincy. From George, travel west on Frontage Road NW, turn left (south) on Beverly Burk Road S/ Road R SW, turn right (west) on Road 5 SW and the orchard will be on the left in 1.8 miles. For more information, contact David Anderson at Northwest Fruit Exporters, danderson@goodfruit. com, phone (509) 576-8004, or Parama Sikdar at parama_sikdar@wsu.edu, phone (509) 664-2280, ext. 207. GOOD STUFF A selection of the latest products and services for tree fruit and grape growers MARCH March 17-18: Fruit Ripening and Retail Handling Workshop, University of California Davis, postharvest. ucdavis.edu/Education/fruitripening/ March 20: Pesticide Spray Application Equipment Best Management Practices, Quincy, Washington, www.growersleague.org March 24: Crab apple pruning demonstration, 10 a.m., Herke Orchard, 14586 Summitview Road, Yakima, Washington. Contact David Anderson, danderson @ goodfruit.com, (509) 576-8004 or Parama Sikdar at parama_sikdar@wsu.edu, (509) 664-2280, ext. 207. March 26: Crab apple pruning demonstration, 2 p.m., 5 Star Orchard, 19665 Road 5 SW, Quincy, Washington. Contact David Anderson, danderson@goodfruit.com, (509) 576-8004 or Parama Sikdar at parama_sikdar@wsu.edu, (509) 664-2280, ext. 207. FELIX INSTRUMENTS PLAY See a demonstration of crab apple pruning techniques at goodfruit.com/ prune-out-dead-crab-apple-tissue

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