Fruit tree canker (Neonectria ditissima) is one of the big threats for apple growing in Northwest Europe. In the case of a sudden outbreak of fruit tree canker in a recently-planted apple tree orchard, there is often a discussion about where the cause of the infestation is to be found. Where in the chain from parent plant material (rootstock and scion wood) via fruit tree nursery to fruit grower did the infestation take place?
In order to further clarify this point, researchers of Wageningen Plant Research (part of Wageningen University & Research, WUR) in Dutch Randwijk, were given the assignment to do research into this. In every link of the chain, they took samples to check these for infestations. In addition, by means of artificial infestations they tried to find out how susceptible trees are in the various phases of the chain.
Read the results of this research in the March issue of EFM
