What is RACER ?

Background

Raspberry (Rubus idaeus) is a valuable small fruit crop consumed in the EU and elsewhere in the World. It is a high value crop with a long establishment period incurring high capital expenditure. To assure high quality fruit production, fungicides and insecticides are anecessary part of  preventing fruit damage and loss of yield.

 

Raspberries can be grown on upland and moderately steep slopes which would be unsuitable for most arable crops. The diverse growing conditions within the EU offer opportunities for continuity of supply with early fruit production in the south through to late production in central Finland and autumn production from primocane (first year) fruiting. Good prices come from producing high quality harvested fruit, free from blemishes, rots and moulds. Good yields come from best practice in crop production within the variables of climatic factors. Ensuring continuity and quality of supply from these diverse areas requires a concerted effort to develop and utilise pest and disease monitoring techniques. Avoiding damage from pest infestation and disease attack is vital to the economics of Rubus fruit production. Growers must balance the need to produce high quality fruit against the increasing pressures from retailers and consumers to reduce chemical useand residues.

European Rubus (raspberry and blackberry) crops have many  pests and diseases that affect fruit quality or yield. Raspberry crops may require several applications of pesticides in the pre-fruiting stage in any one season from leaf burst to green fruit stage. There is a  need to reduce usage, wherever possible, and find suitable environmentally benign replacement products which can be integrated intomodern production systems, e.g. Integrated Pest Management (IPM).

This project will provide the fruit growing industry with methods to forecast and monitor arthropod pests and post-harvest rot fungi and offer the foundation for a new European Code of Best Practice in pest and disease control. This will assist them in achieving a reduction in chemicalusage and still provide high quality fruit as required by the consumers.

Partnership

This project was conceived by members of the European raspberry producers and processing industry to help them to produce high quality fruit in an environmentally acceptable manner, meeting the aspirations of the consumers, supermarkets and processors.

                                                        A meeting of some of the participants

Locations of the Partners in RACER

Commercial Partners

Scottish Soft Fruit Growers Ltd. (SSFG) is a producer organisation wholly owned by its membership, growers who produce raspberries for processing and significant quantities of raspberries and strawberries for the fresh retail sector. SSFG is involved in all aspects of the industry, from basic scientific research, through technical advice, husbandry actions, crop-handling organisation, semi-processing and processing to marketing and selling membersâoutput. â

A2 Associazione Produttori Agricoli Sant' Orsola s.c.ar.l.

Via Lagorai 131, Pergine Valsugana, 38057 Trentino dito Adige,Italy

tel. + 39 461 518111

fax + 39 461 530505

e-mail S.Orsola@valsugana.com

Associazione Produttori Agricoli Sant'Orsola, is a Fruit Marketing organisation for a fruit growersâ cooperative. The company provides a range of services: sale of fruit, fruit processing, cool storage facilities,technical support for each fruit species and nursery plants. â

A3 Dr. D. Perlepes

111 Orfeos Street, 11858 Athens, Greece

tel. + 30 1 345 8485

fax + 30 1 346 1653

Dr Perlepes represents a group of a fruit producers in the Lamia area (central Greece) who have established raspberries as a new, high value crop to replace cotton and tobacco on small farms. As raspberries are a novel crop, there are no established cultivation methods and no technicalsupport available.

A4 Valmira Frutas LDA

Zambujeira do Mar, PT 7630 Odemira, Portugal

tel. + 351 83 61433

fax + 351 83 61448

E-mail: morrslate@aol.com

This fruit production company has established raspberries as a novel crop in Portugal. The company exports all fruit as fresh to other Member States, exploiting Portugal's climatic advantage to produce early,high value fruit.

A5 Pakkasmarja Oy

Mansikkaraitti, FI 77600 Suonenjoki, Finland

tel. + 358 17 689 100

fax + 358 17 689 1018

http://www.finfood.fi/kasvikset/tuottajat/pakkasmarja.htm

http://www.agronet.fi/elintarviketalous/marjaok/berryknowhow.htm

or

http://www.berryknow-howcentre.fi      Finland Only 

Pakkasmarja Oy was established by small fruit farmers in central Finland to market and process fruit. They pack and sell about 200 tonnesper year. Fresh berries are exported to Austria, Germany and Sweden.

B1  Stiftung Behindertenbetriebe in Kanton Schwyz.

BSZ Fertingung, Grotzenmühlestrasse 1, 8840 Einsiedeln, Switzerland

ü

tel. + 41 55 418 92 00

fax + 41 55 418 92 01

Stiftung Behindertenbetriebe in Kanton Schwyz (BSZ) provides protected-environment employment for handicapped adults. It is underwritten by the local authority (Kanton, Schwyz) and manufactures a range of productsincluding insect attractant traps.

Science Partners

C1 

Invergowrie, Dundee DD2 5DA, Scotland

tel. + 44 1382 562731

fax + 44 1382 562426

e-mail SC.Gordon@scri.sari.ac.uk

WWW http://www.scri.sari.ac.uk/

Scottish Crop Research Institute (SCRI) is Co-ordinator and Prime RTD Performer. SCRI is the lead centre in Europe for research in soft fruit crops with an international reputation as a centre of excellence which stems from the strong, multidisciplinary approach. The main objective in crop protection research is to improve crop quality and efficiency through pest and disease control methods which are benign, cost effective and compatible with sustainable management systems. SCRIâs Soft Fruit and Perennial Crops Department works closely with industry to develop cultivars for both fresh and processing markets. On the agronomic side, the pathologists activelyresearch mycological, viral and entomological problems. â

C2 Istituto Agrario Provinciale di S. Michele allâAdige

â

Via Edmondo Mach 1, 38010 S.Michele a/Adige, Italy

tel. + 39 461 615290

fax + 39 461 650872

e-mail alberto.grassi@ismaa.it

WWW http://www.ismaa.it/

Istituto Agrario Provinciale di S. Michele allâAdige (IASMA) is an educational and research organisation in the Trentino Region of Northern Italy. Their soft fruit research is aimed towards IPM strategies and they work closely with their local soft fruit industry to maximise yields andquality in the diverse conditions in the valleys of the Dolomites. â

C3 

Institute of Plant Protection, FI 31600 Jokioinen, Finland

tel. + 358 3 41882579

fax + 358 3 41882584

e-mail tuomo.tuovinen@mtt.fi

WWW http://www.mtt.fi/

Institute of Plant Protection has entomological, acarological and phytopathological expertise. They currently have a project on 'Integrated Pest Management in Orchards' aimed at apple and strawberry production in Finland. The methods of monitoring and biological control of mites and insects gives an opportunity to apply new methods and develop biologicalcontrol for raspberry.

C4 

  Biomathematics and Statistic Scotland

c/o Scottish Crop Research Institute, Invergowrie, Dundee DD25DA, Scotland

tel. + 44 1382 562731

fax + 44 1382 562426

e-mail jwmcni@scri.sari.ac.uk

WWW http://www.bioss.sari.ac.uk.

BioSS is providing central statistical advice and consultation for all partners to provide a unified interpretation of the results obtainedat the diverse locations.

National Agromet Unit, ADAS

Wolverhampton, WV6 8TQ , England

tel. + 44 1902 693245

fax. + 44 1902 743810

e-mail Ian_Barrie@adas.co.uk

WWW http://www.adas.co.uk/   & http://www.meto.govt.uk/ &

National Agromet Unit have experience in developing and operating computer models to predict raspberry cane midge emergence in the spring in the UK. Their expertise will be used to develop models for elsewherein Europe.

Objectives of the Project

***** major importance, widespread; **** very important, causingcrop damage in most years.

All photographs are copyright  of either SCRI or FAW

A growers' training workshop at Berry Know-how Centre, Suounenjoki, Finland in February 1999. Dr Brian Williamson, mycologist at Scottish Crop Research Institute instructing growers how to identify raspberry midge blight in overwintered raspberry canes.
   

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Last Updated: 5th November 1999