According to the FAO the production of apples in the 25 European Union countries was 11.96 million tonnes in 2005 (1). Such considerable production entails a high use of pesticides in apple orchards. Fruit trees are the second crop in terms of quantity of pesticides used by hectare, only exceed by vineyards (2). The volume and the number of pesticide applications during the growing season results in the frequent presence of residues in apples, often exceeding the Maximum Residues Limit (MRL) (3), which can cause adverse human health effects. Organic production, despite having none of these drawbacks, currently accounts for a very small percentage of total apple production. Therefore, the use of pesticides in conventional production should only be considered when every other method of crop protection fails and carefully selecting the timing, the dosage, frequency of applications and the type of pesticide, respecting the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) principles.
The International Organization for Biological and Integrated Control of Noxious Animals and Plants (IOBC) defines Integrated Fruit Management as “the economical production of high quality fruit, giving priority to ecological safer methods, minimizing the undesirable side effects and use of agrochemicals, to enhance the safeguards to the environment and human health”(4). The IOBC principles have been taken on board by several regional and national governments and numerous farmers organisations all over Europe when defining Integrated Pest Management standards for apple production. Integrated Pest Management employs monitoring of pests, weather conditions, stage and condition of plants in order to decide whether or not the treatments should be undertaken. This includes physical, biological, mechanical, cultural and educational tactics to keep pest numbers at the level that does not endanger the production in economic terms. Treatments should not have adverse effects on the environment, beneficial and non-target organisms and human health. The principles of Integrated Fruit Production take the following elements into account: the identification of pests and their natural enemies, monitoring their populations and record keeping; setting the thresholds for each pest correlated with the numbers of beneficial insects; economic and aesthetic damage; stage of the plants and pests; time of the season; opting for the least hazardous control measures; and evaluating the outcome of the measures to build experience. Despite the principles, different countries apply slightly different versions of IPM. In Germany, for instance, IPM practices are characterised by a high use of pesticides and do not gather full support from stakeholders (5).
Although IPM guidelines are based on the best disease and pest management practices and have been established by several regional and national governments and adopted by many farmers and farmers’ organizations, the IPM standards, unlike organic production, are not precisely defined or legally specified in a EU or international agreement. Although the restrictions on inputs such as fertilizers, pesticides and others agrochemicals are defined in various guidelines, in practice the level of implementation varies (6). European countries have no unified standards or requirements imposed on farmers, but there are many local, regional and national initiatives to create labels and sell IPM products as better for the environment, consumers and offering economical advantages to farmers (7).
Organic and integrated apple producers face many obstacles and difficulties in dealing with pests, diseases, weeds and finding suitable ways to market their products and increase their profits. While the economics of organic fruit growing is comparatively healthy due to the higher farm gate price for the product and State support, labour hours exceed those of conventional and Integrated Fruit Production due to blossom thinning by hand, manual weed control and mice control among others. The main advantages and difficulties of Integrated Fruit Production are summarised, for example, by a Dutch research showing that although integrated apple growing has much lower impact on the environment in comparison with conventional farming systems, it can be less profitable due to the necessary extra labour inputs. The practice in Holland also showed that the reduction of fungicide use proved more difficult in susceptible varieties as disease management currently depends on fungicide application (8). Despite the difficulties, there are numerous examples of successful practices in Europe. This briefing focuses on successful examples and shows that integrated and organic apple production is feasible and can be a commercial success. This review and a briefing are available at: http://www.paneurope.info/publications/index.htm.