Over the last 60 years, planting densities for apple have increased as improved management systems have been developed. Dwarfing rootstocks have been the key to the dramatic changes in tree size, spacing and early production. The Malling series of dwarfing rootstocks (M.9 and M.26) have been the most important dwarfing rootstocks in the world but are poorly adapted in some areas of the world an...

In the field of agricultural research, Machine Learning (ML) has been used to increase productivity and minimize its environmental impact, proving be an essential technique support decision making. Accurate harvest time prediction is a challenge for fruit production in sustainable manner, which could eventually reduce food waste. Linear models have estimate period duration; however, they presen...

The ectoparasitic habit of the hexapod larva of Trombicula autumnalis is the cause of much discomfort to residents of infected localities in the British Isles, between late June and the beginning of October. The mite is a member of the Trombiculid group which includes species known to transmit disease in some parts of the world. The unfed larvae are found either upon the soil or climbing upon l...

Apples fruit quality is mainly influenced by biotic and abiotic factors. Various possible pomological approaches are able to improve market value. Among these, techniques of bagging summer pruning have become an integral part practises in many countries, because it a safe eco-friendly technique protect fruits from multiple stresses, preserving or improving the overall quality. The consists esse...

Surveys were conducted in the major apple growing regions of New York state to determine the incidence of borers infesting burrknots on clonal apple rootstocks. Dogwood borer, Synanthedon scitula (Harris), was generally prevalent throughout the state, but American plum borer, Euzophera semifuneralis (Walker), was limited to western New York apple orchards near infested stone fruit trees. Insect...

Information gathering and processing in horticulture helps optimise control processes and can enable more precise farm management. Robotics and automation are helping make high resolution, timely, farm wide measurements for tasks such as yield estimation, crop health and soil analysis. An efficient means of storing and processing such information is to discretise it to individual trees. To auto...

Halyomorpha halys is an introduced stink bug species from Asia that is spreading throughout the Mid-Atlantic United States. It is native to South Korea, Japan, and eastern China, where it is an occasional pest of tree fruit, including apple and pear. Cage experiments with adults placed on apple and peach during critical plant growth stages demonstrate that it can cause damage to developing frui...

Quantitative descriptions of the frequency and extent of contamination of apple cider with pathogenic bacteria were obtained using literature data and computer simulation. Probability distributions were chosen to describe the risk of apple contamination by each suspected pathway. Tree-picked apples may be contaminated by birds infected with Escherichia coli O157:H7 when orchards were located ne...