Innovative, economically justified solutions for increasing the efficiency of apple and raspberry production and fruit quality Project leader Regīna Rancāne Team of project Jānis Gailis Edīte Jākobsone Guna Bundzēna Duration 2019 - 2023 Research focus 4. Development and adaptation of technologies for obtaining high-value agricultural and forest products, as well as in veterinary medicine Source of funding National grant Project partners Latvian Fruit growers association (LAA)Institute of HorticultureDaigone Ltd.farm "Eglāji"farm "Gaidas"farm "Pīlādži" Description of project The aim of research To develop economically justified, innovative, environmentally friendly solutions to reduce the costs of growing and harvesting apples and raspberries and to improve the quality of fruit for fresh consumption and processing. The tasks of project: To monitor the incidence of diseases and pests in apple orchardsTo assess the impact of mechanized apple crown formation on apple health and fruit qualityTo determine the incidence of diseases and pests in raspberry plantingsTo develop plant protection strategy under raspberry cover Results Observations of the dynamics of apple scab showed that the canopy management had no impact on the development of the disease in this case, rather the effectiveness of spraying should be improved and sanitation should be introduced to reduce the infection source in a given cultivar plantation. There was no statistically significant difference between the damage caused by harmful organisms on apples at harvest in the different canopy treatments. As raspberry rust is becoming more widespread in autumn raspberry plantations, observations were made specifically to study this disease on different cultivars with and without cover. A comparison of the three autumn raspberry cultivars showed that ‘Polka’ is the most susceptible to raspberry rust, while ‘Polonez’ and ‘Mapema’ are less susceptible and about the same in terms of resistance. No differences in disease incidence were observed under VOEN cover and in the open field.
