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 Achievements: Improving the Michigan APPLE & PEAR Industry
The Michigan State University Fruit Area of
Expertise (AOE) Team provides research- and demonstration-based information on pest
management, cultural practices, varieties, and marketing |
New Varieties and Rootstocks for the Michigan Industry
New apple variety evaluation is a priority at all three Horticultural Research Centers
(Southwest, Clarksville, Northwest). Project leader Phil Schwallier is coordinating the
planting and horticultural evaluation of new named or numbered apple varieties with
commercial potential. As examples, a planting of disease-resistant apple cultivars was
established in collaboration with baby food processor Gerber’s, and NE-183 Regional
Apple Cultivar Evaluation Project research blocks have been established at Clarksville,
Fennville, and East Lansing. District Agent Bill Shane is coordinating a study to
determine the potential of new apple varieties to be used for slices in the processing
industry.
Professor Ron Perry supervises several NC-140 Regional Apple Rootstock Evaluation
Project plantings at Clarksville, Northwest Horticulture Research Stations and grower
cooperator sites. Rootstock and planting system evaluation is extremely important to the
Michigan apple industry as growers move to profitable but technically demanding
high-density plantings.
At established trials throughout the state, M.9 clonal apple rootstocks have continued
to be evaluated for precocity, bearing capacity, yield efficiency, suckering, winter
hardiness, etc. This is a multi-year project begun in the spring of 1992. Initial
financial help was provided by the Michigan Apple Research Committee.
Marketing and Promotion
District Agent Bob Tritten has been busy working with Michigan’s cider producers to
ensure the safety and quality of fresh Michigan apple cider via meetings, workshops, and
the formation of a Michigan ‘Cider Producer’s Guild.’ The Apple Cider
Contest at the Michigan State Horticultural Society’s December ‘Hort Show’
recognizes the work of Michigan’s best cider producers.
Professor Donald Ricks and co-investigators have begun an analysis of key driving forces
which are impacting today’s Michigan apple industry. This long-term GREEEN funded
project includes a survey of processors and development of possible strategies to improve
the apple industry situation including proposals to Michigan Department of Agriculture and
the State of Michigan to assist growers in weathering difficult economic times.
Improved Growing Practices
Professor Ron Perry is continuously researching training and pruning systems for apples
that fit Michigan growing conditions. His findings have been disseminated at grower
meetings and in publications such as ‘Fruit Growers News,’ the ‘Fruit CAT
Alert,’ and the world wide web. Of particular interest is a web-based ‘Apple
Scion/Rootstock Selection and Planning’ tool that helps Michigan growers make the
important but difficult tree-spacing decision when planting a new apple orchard.
The observation that dogwood borers are becoming more prevalent in dwarf apple orchards
managed under an IPM, reduced-spray regimen led Professor Ronald Perry to recommend
mounding of soil around the rootstock shank of dwarf apple trees to prevent serious
economic loss in such plantings.
Harvest and Storage
Harvest maturity and storability are important characteristics for growers to
effectively grow and market apple fruit. Professor Randy Beaudry, in collaboration with
District Agents Phil Schwallier, Gary Thornton, Bill Shane, Mira Danilovich and Bob
Tritten, has coordinated harvest maturity testing in the major Michigan apple growing
districts. Maturity testing has been supported by the industry with the goal of giving
growers, handlers, and storage operators an indication of proper maturity for best fruit
quality depending on storage and marketing targets.
Professor Beaudry and Phil Schwallier, in conjunction with representatives of Abbott
Products (now Valent Biosciences) have been evaluating the efficacy of ReTain, primarily
on 'Jonagold' and 'Gala' apples. ReTain inhibits ethylene biosynthesis and slows down the
rate of maturation, permitting the grower to manage harvest timing. ReTain was found to
delay firmness loss to the same extent it delayed fruit maturation. ReTain also slowed
color development. Significant differences in cultivar sensitivity to ReTain were
detected. Application of ReTain on peaches is presently being studied.
Professor Beaudry and District Agent Schwallier are also determining the timing of
changes in maturity characteristics for over 25 different selections of apple fruit as
part of the nationwide NE-183 Project, Multi-disciplinary Evaluation of New Apple
Cultivars. In addition, the relationship between harvest maturity and storage
characteristics of new apple varieties such as 'Honeycrisp'.
Professor Beaudry is evaluating the capacity of the growth regulator
1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) to prevent or slow ethylene responses such as fruit ripening,
softening and color change. 1-MCP is a gaseous ethylene action inhibitor that will likely
be approved for food use in the next two or three years. It is presently approved for use
on greenhouse crops. Initial investigations have indicated that ripening of apple fruit
can be prevented for at least 120 days at room temperature when fruit are continuously
exposed to 1-MCP. Fruit decay is a serious concern for elevated temperature storage.
Integrated Pest Management
Entomologist Larry Gut continues important research on using mating disruption in
conjunction with newer, selective pesticide chemistries to control codling and oriental
fruit moths and oblique-banded leafroller in apples. These small, moth-like pests cause
considerable economic loss in Michigan orchards if left unchecked, and have become more
troublesome with the advent of resistance to commonly used insecticides. Pheromone mating
disruption can be highly effective, however, placement, timing, rate, and ‘fit’
with conventional pesticides are questions Gut is actively pursuing. He is also
documenting oblique-banded leafroller resistance to older pesticide chemistries, a
phenomena of high concern to Michigan apple growers.
Professor Alan Jones is investigating resistance by the apple scab fungus to commonly
used fungicides in Michigan. In 1999 scab strains collected from eight Michigan apple
orchards were tested for sensitivity to sterol inhibiting (SI) fungicides; reduced
sensitivity was detected in two orchards near Grand Rapids, one near Fennville, and one
near Traverse City. The documentation of SI-resistant strains is important for deciding on
future use strategies for SI fungicides in Michigan orchards. Jones is also pursuing
research on new controls for fire blight. This research is critical to Michigan because
the only effective control for fire blight is the antibiotic streptomycin, but resistance
to streptomycin is rapidly increasing.
The Michigan Apple IPM Implementation Project has an objective of promoting the adoption
of proven IPM methods and technologies by growers. Enjoying wide industry support, the
Project will grow from 900 acres and 47 growers in 1999 to over 2,000 acres and nearly 70
growers in 2000. Several AOE Fruit Team members have been responsible for coordination and
start-up of this evolving program and the newly hired ‘Fruit Integrator’ David
Epstein will take the lead in 2000 on enhancing IPM adoption in Michigan commercial
orchards.
Entomologist Oscar Liburd, in collaboration with colleagues at USDA and the University
of Massachusetts, has been conducting experiments with biodegradable pesticide-treated
spheres for apple maggot fly trap-out. Experiments have been conducted in commercial
orchards to compare different pesticides on treated spheres as well as deployment
strategies. In fact, the spheres have proven so successful that USDA is currently
marketing the pesticide-treated spheres as an alternative apple maggot fly control
strategy.
A joint project between the National Farm*A*Syst Office, the Michigan Groundwater
Stewardship Program, and MSU Extension is being coordinated by Agent Don Lehman. The
project is developing a pest management assessment program aimed specifically towards
apple growers. A survey of MSU Extension Agents helped set priorities for the assessment,
with the finished product scheduled for completion in 2000.
Education
MSU District and County Agents host numerous ‘twilight’ meetings during the
growing season focusing on integrated crop management including pest control, nutrition
management, and worker protection. Pruning and grafting workshops have been held at
appropriate times and locations, including at the Michigan ‘Hort Show.’
IPM Agent Gary Thornton’s ‘Apple IPM School’ held annually during
February at the Kellogg Biological Station draws on average 100 participants from across
Michigan and other apple producing states from as far away as West Virginia seeking
current and novel IPM control strategies in apple orchards.
An ‘Apple Showcase’ featuring several dozen apple varieties was held at Bruce
and Joe Rasch’s orchard in Sparta in October. Fruit was displayed from grower
orchards, the Clarksville and Southwest Research Stations, and by nursery representatives.
Growers had a chance to observe and taste many new and apple varieties with commercial
potential.
Apple Culture; Apple Cider; Organic Apple Production; and Irrigation and Fertigation
Sessions were organized by Fruit AOE Team members at the Michigan State Horticultural
Society Annual Meeting (the ‘Hort Show’). These sessions feature prominent
speakers on current topics in apple production and represent a major educational effort by
AOE Team members to bring cutting edge production information to Michigan’s apple
growers.
Every two years, Dr. Beaudry organizes a one-day Controlled Atmosphere Storage Clinic to
pass on new information relating to controlled atmosphere (CA) storage and warehousing of
fresh produce. The CA Clinic serves to facilitate communication between researchers,
industry spokespersons, technical experts and packinghouse and storage operators.
District Agent Phil Schwallier and Agricultural Economics Professor Myron Kelsey
published a major revision to Extension Bulletin E-1107 ‘Cost of Producing Fresh
Market Apples in Western Michigan, 1998.’
People:
At Clarksville Horticulture Experiment Station:
District Extension Horticultural & Marketing Agent Phil
Schwallier
District Extension Fruit IPM Agent Amy Irish-Brown
In Southeast Michigan:
District Extension Horticultural & Marketing Agent Bob
Tritten
In Northwest Michigan:
District Extension Fruit IPM Agent Gary Thornton
In Southwest Michigan:
District Extension Fruit Production & Marketing Agent Bill Shane
In West-Central Michigan:
District Extension Horticultural & Marketing Agent Mira
Danilovich
District Extension Groundwater Agent Don Lehman
MSU Horticulture Department:
Professor Jim Flore
Professor Ron Perry;
Assoc. Professor Randy Beaudry
MSU Entomology Department:
Professor Larry Gut,
Asst. Professor Oscar Liburd
MSU Botany and Plant Pathology Department:
Professor Alan Jones
MSU Agriculture Economics Department:
Professor Donald Ricks
Contact:
- Mr. Phil Schwallier
- Clarksville Horticulture Experiment Station
- 9302 Portland Rd.
- Clarksville, MI 48815-9731
- wcmihort@msue.msu.edu
