Biodiversity for the Future of Fruit Farming?

With the ever-decreasing chemical arsenal UK fruit growers have to work with, is now the time to take a big leap towards biological control for pest and disease issues in our orchards?

I am a commercial fruit grower from Kent who loves the ideology of organic and regenerative farming for environmental reasons, however I am very sceptical over its merits in terms of the financial business sustainability and security.

As custodians of the land we farm it is hugely important that we work in conjunction with nature and the environment. We must do what we can to reduce damage and also improve where possible. We have a big responsibility to provide a large sustainable flow of quality produce to the public year after year by having a business model that works. 

My project is based on researching global methods and strategies to see if it is possible to maintain good yielding orchards with a high percentage of class one fruit to feed an ever-growing population, while reducing a proportion of chemical inputs with biological control. This is a method I feel we must learn about and implement very soon as I believe it will be taken out of our hands and forced upon us whether we like it or not. 

I visited Italy, The Netherlands, Spain, New Zealand, Australia, United Kingdom and Chile. In these countries I visited a number of growers, research centres, agronomists, tree and plant nurseries, vineyards / wineries, universities, packhouses and machinery manufacturing factories. 

The discoveries that I made were very varied depending on the area I was visiting but never-the-less very interesting as a whole. It shows that wherever we are in the world, we are all fighting the same battles but with different rules, regulations, mindsets and cultures.

Some areas or regions do not have the restrictions that we have in the UK with regards to chemical ammunition. These people can be focused more on immediate issues that affect their business which could include water shortages, frost risks, labour shortages and market instability.

Where biodiversity was being implemented, there were fascinating methods of drilling cover crops in alternate rows to combat nematode issues, gene editing solutions to pathogens in trees and plants, wildflower meadows for increased pollination insects, mycorrhizal fungi added to the soil for root health and water retention, beneficial insects released in orchards to combat certain pests and the creation of habitat for year-round housing of such beneficials.

A stand-out conversation that was unfortunately unanimous was the global increase in prices on all aspects of farming impacting people’s priorities.

Being green is great but we must not go into the red as a business and I’m unfortunately concerned about the financial implications of green methods impacting the future of businesses and the industry as a whole. Is the juice worth the squeeze?