Honeycrisp Research Articles

Bird Deterrence in a Vineyard Using an Unmanned Aerial System (UAS)

Abstract. Washington State growers lose more than $80 million annually to bird damage in fruit crops such as cherries, grapes, Honeycrisp apples, and blueberries. Conventional bird deterrence techniques, such as netting, auditory devices, visual devices, chemical application, falconry, and shooting, are either costly, ineffective, or harmful to birds. At the same time, unmanned aerial systems (UAS) have become popular in military, civilian, and agricultural applications due to decreasing cost, good maneuverability, and their ability to perform multiple types of missions. This article presents an approach using UAS to deter birds and minimize their damage to wine grapes. A quadcopter UAS was flown for three days in September 2016 over a section (30 m × 30 m) of a vineyard to deter birds. The test section of the vineyard was next to a canyon with many trees that provided shelter for a large number of birds. The experimental design included different deterrence methods against birds, including auditory deterrence, visual deterrence, and varying UAS flight patterns. The test section of the vineyard was under continuous video surveillance from 7:00 to 9:00 a.m. using four GoPro cameras for five continuous days, including three days when the UAS was flown. A Gaussian mixture model-based motion detection algorithm was used to detect birds in the videos, a Kalman filter was then used for tracking the detected birds, and bird activities (incoming and outgoing birds) were counted based on the movement of birds across the plot boundary. Two accuracy measures (precision and recall) were calculated to analyze the performance of the automated bird detection and counting system. The results showed that the proposed system achieved a precision of 84% and recall of 87% in counting incoming and outgoing birds. The automated bird counting system was then used to evaluate the performance of the UAS-based bird deterrence system. The results showed that bird activity was more than 300% higher on days with no UAS flights compared to days when the UAS was flown with on-board bird deterrence measures. UAS flights covering the entire experimental plot with auditory deterrence had a better effect than flights with visual deterrence. The results showed the potential for developing an automated bird deterrence system for vineyards and other crops. Extended studies with multi-year, multi-field, and multi-platform experiments are essential to further validate the results. Keywords: Bird deterrence, Fruit crops, Machine vision, Unmanned aerial systems, Vineyards.

Multiple season-long sprays of ethephon or NAA combined with calcium chloride on Honeycrisp: II. Effect on fruit mineral concentrations and incidence of bitter pit

Honeycrisp apple trees are highly prone to biennial bearing and bitter pit (BP). This 3-y study tested the hypothesis that tank mix sprays of ethephon (ETH), naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA), and 1-aminocyclopropane carboxylic acid (ACC) combined with calcium chloride (CaCl2) can mitigate these production problems. Mature ‘Honeycrisp’ were treated with either three of six applications of 150 mg.L-1 ETH, 5 mg.L-1 NAA or two of five applications of 150 mg.L-1 ACC, all tank-mixed with and without CaCl2 and applied at 10-d intervals starting 21–26 June over three growing seasons. Fruit cortical tissue nutrient concentrations were influenced by applications of CaCl2, ETH, NAA, and ACC. In one year, Ca concentrations were significantly higher in fruit from trees treated with six sprays of ETH or NAA with CaCl2 compared with the untreated control. Compared with untreated trees, fruit Ca concentrations were 115% and 148% higher with three and six applications, respectively. Applications of CaCl2 significantly reduced the incidence and severity of BP post-harvest in two of three years when fruit tissue Ca levels were low. ETH alone also increased the incidence and severity of BP two-fold compared with the control, while early season sprays of NAA reduced BP incidence and severity compared with the untreated control. High and similar levels of BP incidence and severity were observed when six sprays of NAA were applied with or without Ca. Fruit tissue K levels were generally reduced with the addition of CaCl2, and within 1 year, K levels were higher in fruit treated with ACC. Fruit Mg concentrations generally decreased with the addition of Ca or NAA. Six applications of ACC resulted in a 30-fold increase in fruit Mg concentrations compared to the untreated control. Tank mixing CaCl2 with the flower-promoting bio-regulators ETH and NAA proved to effectively reduce BP and increase fruit tissue Ca levels. This approach would offer cost savings when repeat sprays of each are required on a bi-weekly basis.

Is fruit dry matter concentration a useful predictor of ‘Honeycrisp’ apple fruit quality after storage?

In climates such as New York State, USA, fruit quality (taste and bitter pit incidence) of Honeycrisp apple varies significantly from year to year. Our research with Honeycrisp? indicates that when crop load is too high the tree cannot supply sufficient carbon, and other nutrients to give optimum fruit quality (taste, appearance and storageability). Similarly if weather patterns are cloudy, tree carbon acquisition is reduced and carbon supply for fruit growth is limited resulting in less than adequate resources for optimum fruit quality. In an attempt to predict Honeycrisp' eating quality and bitter pit incidence post storage we began a study in 2013 where we measured fruit quality characteristics at harvest of 30 orchards in western NY and 20 orchards in northern NY and correlated them with eating quality post storage after 4.5 months in air. The dry matter concentrations at harvest among orchards ranged from 11 to 18%. Neither fruit dry matter no concentration or fruit mineral concentrations (N, Ca and Ca/N and K+Mg/Ca ratio) were predictive of post-storage fruit quality. Fruit Ca concentration was also not predictive of post storage fruit bitter pit. Fruit samples were also treated with MCP or left untreated at harvest. MCP resulted in a small but significant improvement in fruit crunchiness, reduced disagreeable flavors and increased liking score of ?Honeycrisp? fruits. Keywords: fruit mineral concentration, fruit Ca concentration, liking score, bitter pit, MCP

Near infrared spectroscopy to predict bitter pit development in different varieties of apples

Bitter pit is a physiological disorder in apples. Several major apple varieties are susceptible to this disorder that poses a great challenge to growers and the associated industry as it significantly reduces the produce utilization value and marketability. The current method of bitter pit detection is through visual assessment of symptoms. Near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy is a non-invasive technique that can be utilized towards detecting bitter pit development in fruits in pre-/non-symptomatic stages. Therefore, NIR spectra (935–2500 nm) of apples were collected from healthy and bitter pit Honeycrisp, Golden Delicious, and Granny Smith apples from a commercial orchard. The apples were stored in a controlled environment and spectral reflectance data were acquired at days 0, 7, 14, 35, and 63 after harvest. Chemical analysis was performed at the end of the storage period to estimate calcium, magnesium, and potassium content in the fruit peel. Partial least square regression (PLSR) was used to identify the apples as healthy or bitter pit using NIR-based spectral features. In addition, specific spectral features were selected by implementing two feature extraction methods: PLSR and stepwise discriminant analysis (SDA) on day 63 spectral dataset. The PLSR and SDA-based selected features from day 63 in Honeycrisp apples classified the same dataset with classification accuracies of about 100% with both methods. Regression analysis indicated a strong relationship between the PLSR-based spectral features and magnesium-to-calcium ratio in fruit peel in all three (Honeycrisp, Golden Delicious, and Granny Smith) apple varieties.

Effect of Cover Crops on Yield and Leaf Nutrient Concentrations in an Organic Honeycrisp Apple (Malus domestica ‘Honeycrisp’) Orchard in Nova Scotia, Canada

There is an increasing interest for use of cover crops in orchards; however, the species that are most likely to be successfully implemented and their impact on yield and soil productivity have not been fully explored under Maritimes climate. This study investigated the effect of various cover crops treatments on organic apple (Malus domestica Borkh cv. Honeycrisp) yield and leaf nutrient concentrations in Nova Scotia over 3 years. Various cover crop mixtures including legumes, cereals, and grasses were planted using a modified Swiss Sandwich System (SSS). The cover crops treatments did not affect apple yield. In 2012, the input of biomass to the soil was 89% and 144% greater for alfalfa (ALF) and other cover crop treatments than unseeded (CON) treatment, respectively. The pea, oats, vetch mixture (POVM) contributed 24% higher biomass N to soil compared with average of other cover crops in 2012. Soil available K concentration in the tilled strip was increased in the 3rd year of the study compared with the initial values across cover crop treatments. The red clover oats mixture (RCOM), POVM, and Triple Mix (TM) treatments appeared to add the greatest amount of available K to the soil among treatments. The CON, TM, and ALF treatments resulted in higher leaf Mn concentration in only 2012 and CON, sweet clover and oats mixture (SCOM), and ALF resulted in higher leaf P concentration in 2014, compared with other treatments. Cover crops did not compete with apple trees and their most beneficial and consistent contribution was to total C, total N, and K input to the soil.

Robustness of near infrared spectroscopy based spectral features for non-destructive bitter pit detection in honeycrisp apples

Bitter pit is a serious disorder in apples. The current technique involves manual inspection of fruits prior to packaging for fresh market. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to evaluate the near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy for bitter pit detection in apples. The spectral reflectance data were collected from healthy and bitter pitted honeycrisp apples from two different locations. Apples were stored in cold storage and spectra were acquired at 0, 35 and 63days after harvest (DAH). On each of the DAH, each of the 40 apples (20 healthy and 20 bitter pitted) were analyzed to acquire three spectra per location with three marked locations per fruit. Suitable spectral features were selected using stepwise multilinear regression and rank feature technique. The spectral bands of 971.2, 978.0, 986.1, 987.3, 995.4, 1131.5, 1135.3, 1139.1 and 1142.8nm were identified as the bands thought to be associated with bitter pit in honeycrisp apples. Feature datasets were evaluated using quadratic discriminant analysis and support vector machine classifiers to evaluate robustness of these features in bitter pit detection. Overall, classifiers performance comparison revealed that bitter pitted honeycrisp apples can be distinguished with average accuracy in the range of 78–87%. Based on spectral features of this study, spectra related to cell membrane water-soaked regions that contribute to spectral variation might have been identified. Our on-going studies are further validating those bands on Honeycrisp and other apple cultivars and using different spectral band selection methods towards developing a portable sensing module for apple bitter pit detection.

Postharvest bitter pit detection and progression evaluation in ‘Honeycrisp’ apples using computed tomography images

Bitter pit is a physiological disorder that is defined as brown, corky and roundish lesions, which can develop in apples before and after harvest. This disorder greatly reduces the product utilization value of the fruit, and can result in several million dollar economic loss to the apple industry. Computed Tomography (CT) imaging is a non-destructive and rapid sensing technique that can be applied to packaged apples. In this study, healthy and bitter pit Honeycrisp apples were harvested from two field sites and stored for 63 days. CT images of the sampled apples were collected on 0, 7, 14, 21, 35 and 63days after harvest. Images were analyzed to estimate the total pit area in each of the individual apples and were related to pit incidence and progression in different stages of storage. Results showed pit development during the storage period in bitter pitted apples. The rate of progression differed in samples collected from different field sites. Further analysis for pit distribution along each of the bitter pit affected apples showed 54% of pits located at the calyx-end of apples in comparison with middle and stem-end. Classification of healthy and bitter pitted apples using logistic regression based method resulted in false negative of 7–21%.

Can Plant Breeding Go Open Source?

Can Plant Breeding Go Open Source?

Controlled atmosphere-related injury in ‘Honeycrisp’ apples is associated with g-aminobutyrate accumulation

Chiu, G. Z., Shelp, B. J., Bowley, S. R., DeEll, J. R. and Bozzo, G. G. 2015. Controlled atmosphere-related injury in ‘Honeycrisp’ apples is associated with γ-aminobutyrate accumulation. Can. J. Plant Sci. 95: 879-886. ‘Honeycrisp’ apples (Malus×domestica Borkh.), including fruit treated with the ethylene antagonist 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP), can be susceptible to controlled atmosphere (CA)-related injury of the flesh tissue during storage. To better understand the biomarkers associated with this physiological disorder, we compared the temporal responses of the universal stress signature, γ-aminobutyrate (GABA), and visual symptoms of CA-related injury in apples subjected to elevated CO2. Fruit were treated with or without 1-MCP prior to CA [2.5 kPa O2, 5 (elevated) or 0.03 (ambient) kPa CO2] storage at either 3 or 20°C for up to 24 wk. At 20°C, 1-MCP-treated apples displayed symptoms of CA-related injury by 3 wk of elevated CO2 storage; a similar 15% disorder incidence was apparent by 6 wk in non 1-MC...

Potential mycotoxin contamination risks of apple products associated with fungal flora of apple core

During development apples may become infected with mycotoxin-producing fungi without showing surface symptoms at fruit maturity. Cores from five apple cultivars: Ambrosia, Honey Crisp, Golden Delicious, Red Delicious and McIntosh, were aseptically removed from surface sterilized fruit and incubated at 25 °C. The cores were screened for the presence of fungal mycelium and associated mycotoxins. The average percentage of cores with fungal presence was 53.3–58.0%. Twenty five fungal species were identified by sequencing internal transcribed spacers (ITS) of 18S rDNA. The fungi mainly belonged to Alternaria, Penicillium, Aspergillus, Fusarium and Trichoderma species. Fungal pure cultures were inoculated into the apple matrix and incubated for 14 days. Liquid chromatography-mass spectroscopy demonstrated that the isolated fungi had the capacity to produce mycotoxins patulin, alternariol, tentoxin, ochratoxin A and T2-toxin. In addition, mycotoxin-specific genes and/or their transcripts were detected in some of the fungal isolates, but their corresponding mycotoxins were not detected in all isolates containing the genes.

Bird damage to select fruit crops: The cost of damage and the benefits of control in five states

Fruit loss to birds is a long-standing and costly problem for many producers. We conducted a survey of Honeycrisp apple, blueberry, cherry, and wine grape growers in California, Michigan, New York, Oregon, and Washington to estimate costs of bird damage and benefits of bird damage management. We also assessed grower perceptions of impacts on profits and effectiveness of bird management techniques. Current yield-loss estimates provided by growers and market price data were used to monetize current bird damage in each crop and growing region. Data on expected damage without management were used to estimate the benefits of bird damage management as it is currently being employed in the different crops and growing regions. We estimated that current bird damage costs per hectare ranged from $104 in Oregon tart cherries to $7267 in Washington Honeycrisp apples. Estimated benefits of bird management ranged from $299 per hectare in Oregon tart cherries to $36,851 in California blueberries. Aggregate bird damage in the five crops and states was estimated at $189 million, and the aggregate benefits of managing that damage were estimated at $737 million to $834 million. Growers viewed most techniques for bird damage management as ineffective, or only slightly effective, and a majority of blueberry and sweet cherry growers viewed bird damage as having a significant impact on profits. Enhancing the effectiveness of bird damage management would increase both the efficiency and profitability of fruit production.

Rheological Characteristics of Apple Skin and Apple Firmness

The modulus and breaking strength of the skins of different apples were measured: McIntosh, Red Delicious, and Empire stored under controlled atmosphere; McIntosh stored at 1.7°C without atmospheric control, and Honey Crisp and Crimson Gala grown under light and heavy crop conditions. The moduli of the skins of Honey Crisp and Crimson Gala were lower (P < 0.05), than those of Empire, McIntosh, and Red Delicious. Peak puncture force values of McIntosh, Red Delicious, and Empire were lower (P < 0.05) than those of Crimson Gala and Honey Crisp; the contribution of the skin of the Honey Crisp apples to the peak force was least among all the studied apples.

6 Chair’s Lift Line, Breckenridge

139 • An apple’s the teacher’s pet of fruits, always begging me, me, me. • First in line’s blushed Yellow Delicious or tinged Honey Crisp. • It’s the blonde who looks your way with her eyes’ curtains closed. • Some other churning’s the galactic hooha Lady Gaga snowfalls money of. • Snow’s desire in white disguise as is Lady who prefers the banana. • An Italian couple’s busy ignoring Please Alternate because it’s language. • When a patroller bids the kumquats Stop, they in their tracks do. • The lifework of the orange is to be juicy and unrhymable. • An orange storage shed marked High Voltage approximates both. • Peeling an orange resembles undressing a woman only in rudimentary yearning. • It’s pears breasts resemble layered in down like grounded birds. • The kiwi resembles a green eye symmetry gives us two of but not the seed complete. • When fate proffers lemons, imagine women wedged in a maze awaiting your ride. • That’s a mirage, as is distant Mount Helen’s holding hands with Father Dyer Peak. • Grapes give us wine which is thank you to please as sky is to ground. • In this light the Tenmile Range happily tongues a tangerine horizon. • Snow, says Li Po, is besotted gods’ grabbing a cloud and grinding it into white dust. • At least that’s what translator David Hinton says Li Po says in stitched lines. • In poems the first word faces forward, the rest a helmeted back of head sliding away. • We’re bound for the chair lifting each by each above the shy white eternal. • Be of good cheer, my friends, for the ride, signs say, lasts a mere ten minutes. 6 CHAIR’S LIFT LINE, BRECKENRIDGE KEVIN STEIN ...

EFFECT OF TREATMENT WITH 10-20 C FOR DIFFERENT PERIOD BEFORE COLD STORAGE ON PHYSIOLOGY DISORDERS OF HONEY CRISP APPLES

Honeycrisp apple [Malus domestica (Borkh.)] Fruit the susceptible to storage disorders were treated by keeping them at 10 C for (5 – 10 - 15) days and 20 C for (2 - 5 – 10 -15) days before cold storage at 1 C, and control was transferred directly to 1Cْ. According to the result: Soluble pectin were reduced, Firmness were increased at the temperatures 10 - 20 C for all period compared with control, both soluble pectin and Firmness were getting better for longer period under 10 - 20 C. While moisture loss after delayed cooling and after storage were higher for 15 days at 10 - 20 C. Both Flesh browning and soft scald were markedly reduced compared with untreated control and were reduced more when the period of keeping at 10 - 20 C were longer. Both Bitter pit and Rot were increased by keeping the fruit at 10 - 20 C compared with untreated control.

Bioflavonoids of Apples: Effects of Genetic Variability, Fruit Parts and Processing

Apples are excellent sources of dietary phenolics, in particular flavonoids and chlorogenic acid, which are potent antioxidants that may play important roles in the prevention of chronic diseases. This study investigated the major phenolics profiles of apple fruit in relation to (1) the distribution among 8 Ontario-grown cultivars, (2) the different fruit parts, and (3) the effect of processing of fresh-cuts. In addition, total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and total phenols content (TPC) were measured in apples by spectrophotometric assays. Flavonoids and chlorogenic acid were quantified using HPLC/PDA. Vitamin C was quantified using HPLC/Fluorescence. TAC, TPC and flavonoids levels were the highest in Honey Crisp and Delicious, moderate in Idared, Spartan, Granny Smith, and Cortland, and the lowest in Crispin and Empire. Apple peel contained 2 to 10-fold higher TAC, TPC and total of 10 major phenolics than that of core and flesh indicating peeling of apples during processing could reduced significantly the nutritional quality of fresh-cut apples. Dihydrochalcone (phloridzin) and chlorogenic acid levels were 2 to 21-fold higher in apple core than skin and flesh. TAC levels and vitamin C contents could be increased up to 3-fold and 14 to 20-fold, respectively by the post-cut dipping treatment with an ascorbic acid-based antioxidant formula. The phenolic profiles of sliced apples were stable up to 21 days at 4°C.

Cropload Affects Fruit Quality of Honeycrisp Apple

In 2001 and 2002, we imposed a wide range of croploads (0-15 fruits/cm2 of TCA) on 4- and 5-year-old Honeycrisp/M.9 trees by manual hand thinning soon after bloom to define appropriate croploads that give adequate repeat bloom and also the best fruit quality. At harvest each year we evaluated fruit ripening and quality. Samples were stored for 5 months in air at 38 °F and 33 °F and evaluated for fruit firmness and storage disorders. Cropload was negatively correlated with tree growth, return bloom, fruit size, fruit red color, fruit sugar content, fruit starch content, fruit firmness, fruit acidity, fruit bitter pit, fruit senescent breakdown, fruit rot and fruit superficial scald, but was positively correlated with leaf blotch symptoms, fruit internal ethylene concentration at harvest, and fruit soggy breakdown. There was a strong effect of cropload on fruit size up to a cropload 7, beyond which there was only a small additional effect. Although there was considerable variation in return bloom, a relatively low cropload was required to obtain adequate return bloom. Fruit red color was reduced only slightly up to a cropload of 8 beyond which it was reduced dramatically. The reduced fruit color and sugar content at high croploads could indicate a delay in maturity of but, fruits from high croploads were also softer, had less starch and greater internal ethylene. It that excessive croploads advance maturity. Overall, croploads greater than 10 resulted in no bloom the next year, and poor fruit size, color and flavor, but these fruits tended to have the least storage disorders. Moderate croploads (7-8) resulted in disappointing return bloom and mediocre fruit quality. For optimum quality and annual cropping, relatively low croploads of 4-5 were necessary.

CONTEMPORARY ASSORTMENT OF APPLE IN CENTRAL BLACK EARTH REGION AND PROSPECTS OF GENE POOL OF ALL-RUSSIAN RESEARCH INSTITUTE FOR FRUIT CROP BREEDING IN SELECTION

Studies (1972-2019) were carried out on the apple gene pool of VNIISPK by methods of the field assessment of the main production and biological indicators according to generally accepted methods of culivar study. The objects were apple cultivars of various genetic and ecological-geographical origin. A significant improvement in the zoned apple assortment in the Central Chernozem Region was revealed due to the addition of scab-immune, triploid cultivars that combine scab immunity with a triple set of chromosomes, as well as columnar cultivars. Changing conditions require constant updating of the assortment due to the use of new sources of valuable traits in breeding. High resistance to scab (Rvi6 gene) of Moldovan cultivars Koremolda, Koremodet, Romanian cultivars Romus 3 and Romus 4, and Latvian cultivars Baiba, Gita, Dace, Edite was revealed. Wijeik, Tuskan (England), Valuta, Vostorg, Girlianda, Kaskad, Lukomor, Moskovskoye Ozherelie, Poezia, Priokskoye and Sozvezdie can be valuable sources when creating new columnar cultivars (Co gene). The sources of early fruiting, productivity, high commodity and consumer qualities, genotypes with a compact low crown are selected. Valuable sources of high commodity and consumer qualities of fruit of winter ripening cultivars are Gubernskoye, Kondratievskoye, Paskhalnoye, Pervenetz Rtisheva bred at Saratov Experimental Station of Gardening; Belarusian cultivars – Antey, Alesya, Belarusian Sladkoye, Belarusian Malinovoye, Imant, Zorka and foreign cultivars Breburn, Granny Smith, Jonagold, Ligol, Fuji and Honey Crisp. The use of cultivars that are resistant to abiotic and biotic environmental factors in breeding, in combination with sources of high quality fruit, will allow creating new cultivars for intensive biologized fruit orchards that ensure competitiveness and high profitability of production.