New Guidance to Reduce Apple Tree Canker

Research funded by Growing Kent & Medway has shown a damaging disease that affects apple trees can be significantly reduced.

The trials, led by Niab, showed that improving the soil in the holes before trees are planted by using beneficial fungi and biocontrols can result in a five-fold reduction in apple canker.

Where orchards are already planted, further research showed how sowing wildflowers can increase the presence of these beneficial fungi, helping to make mature apple trees more resilient to disease.

Practical guidance and technical details of how growers can adopt the authorised soil amendments and establish beneficial wildflower mixes can be found in two new factsheets, produced by Niab.

Nigel Jenner, Head of Agronomy for AM Fresh UK, who led the project and helped to guide the research on behalf of the industry, said: “This work has delivered some of the most useful results on apple canker for a generation. The impact of these treatments was so noticeable that growers should adopt the authorised amendments as standard practice when establishing new orchards.”

Reducing Apple Canker with Soil Amendments at Planting

- How Niab treated Gala trees during planting using arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and Trichoderma-based biocontrol products

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Establishing wildflowers in mature apple orchards to enhance canker control

- How the soil in the tree alleys was prepared, the composition of the wildflower seed mix, and the seed sowing rate

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The trials led by Niab, were funded by Growing Kent & Medway and supported by Agrovista, AM Fresh, British Apples and Pears Ltd and The East Malling Trust.

The factsheets are free to download and available from the Niab website.