The BAPL research and development team will again be hosting its annual R&D day on 10th February 2025 in the Mumford Building at Niab East Malling, Kent.
This year the event is being hosted jointly with Niab.
BAPL members will be given priority booking for in-person tickets until 10th January. Members are strongly encouraged to book before this date.
Booking for non-BAPL members to attend in person will then open for any tickets which remain after 10th January.
Booking for virtual attendance will not be limited and is open to all.
If anyone booking an in-person ticket is unable to attend they should immediately inform admin@britishapplesandpears.co.uk so that their space can be allocated to someone else. No shows create waste and could deprive someone else of the day’s learning
The R&D meeting will brief apple and pear growers on the latest research projects that their subscriptions are funding. The research projects are all designed to address some of the industry’s most pressing production problems. Speakers will include scientists from Niab, ADAS and the University of Greenwich along with growers and agronomists who will be sharing some of their practical experiences in adopting new techniques in their own businesses.
Topics to be covered include the improvement of low-oxygen storage of Gala and new control opportunities for apple scab and canker.
Delegates will also find out more about an Innovate UK project to develop precision orchard management for the environment and how the industry is contributing towards carbon capture.
In addition, a presentation will be made by the Horticulture Crop Protection Ltd team to explain how grower funds are being used to deliver new and alternative plant protection products for the apple and pear sector.
There is space for 80 delegates to attend in person at the Niab site. A live virtual connection will be offered to those unable to travel to the Kent location.
For more information about BAPL’s R&D activities, visit our R&D page.
Agenda
09:45 Arrive and coffee
10:10 Welcome
10:15 Overview of how BAPL research is supporting apple and pear growers (Rachel McGauley, BAPL)
10:25 Novel approaches to managing and controlling apple canker (Louisa Robinson-Boyer and Matevz Papp-Rupar, Niab)
10:55 Biochar research – our contribution to ‘net-zero’ (Rob Saunders, Hutchinsons)
11:10 Comfort break
11:20 The value of measuring carbon and natural capital (Louise Rix, Trinity Agtech)
11:30 Growing Green – helping growers in Kent and Medway in their journey to ‘net zero’ (Flora O’Brien, Niab)
11:35 Evaluating commercial IPM strategies for sustainable codling moth control in apples (Jonathan Blackman, Hutchinsons)
11:50 Addressing the increasing damage caused by woodlice (Rory Jones, ADAS and Nigel Jenner, Avalon Fresh)
12:10 How Horticulture Crop Protection Ltd is supporting the apple and pear sector (Simon Conway and Carlos Duarte, HCP Ltd)
12:30 Lunch
14:00 Forest bug control – a grower case study (Paul Hamlyn, ACH Farming and Alex Radu, Agrovista)
14:15 Brown marmorated stink bug up-date and future management (Francis Wamonje, Niab)
14:30 The challenge of controlling hard bodied pests in apples and pears (David Hall, University of Greenwich)
14:45 The impact of wildflower resources on rosy apple aphid control (Charlotte Howard, University of Reading)
14:55 Comfort break
15:05 POME: Precision orchard management for the environment (Charles Whitfield, Niab)
15:20 Moving towards whole orchard pest and disease management; an ecosystem approach (Michelle Fountain, Niab)
15:35 Improving low-oxygen storage of Gala apples (Richard Colgan, University of Greenwich)
15:50 Close