Novel approaches to pest and disease control in apples and pears

NIAB

Project objectives

UK apple and pear growers list pest and disease control as their highest research priority and to this end, British Apples and Pears is funding NIAB scientists to investigate novel approaches. They will try to harness beneficial endophytes for canker control and reduce overwintering inoculum for scab control. Inoculating trees with earwigs will be investigated to control woolly apple aphid. Precision monitoring, semiochemical and biological manipulation will be investigated to control hard bodied pests, while IPM approaches will be reviewed for future UK codling moth control.