Origin Fruit Group Grape Packing Protocol

PRODUCT & PREPARATION

Mould management Botrytis bunch rot has three-way interactions among the host (grapevine), the environment, and the causal path ogen (the Botrytis fungus). The following sets out guidance to reduce the risk of Bot rytis cinerea / Grey Mould Rot / Botrytis bunch rot devel opment post harvest in table grapes. Successful man agement of Botrytis bunch rot can be achieved through the use of several strategies; by employing vineyard management, targeted chemical application, biological controls and post harvest management. Vineyard man agement and cultural control methods are not covered here but include; nitrogen, potassium and calcium us age, irrigation, canopy, bunch management and plastic covers in rain prone areas. SPRAY PROGRAMME A preventative spray programme to control fungal growth is essential to prevent crop loss of post harvest decay. Key times when infection is more likely are follow ing rain, high humidity under the canopy, high humidity under plastic covers. Flowering, in particular capfall, is a particularly susceptible time and mould spores can take hold but remain latent in the berry until it later develops when conditions are more favourable typically post har vest. This leads to product unfit for sale on arrival, and so incurring repacking charges or the development in cus tomers homes. Botrytis regularly expresses itself in this manner and the primary cause of customer complaints. The most frequent reason for customer complaints is gone mouldy before the end of the shelf life. The use of chemicals where approved for use, must be in chemical group rotation to reduce resistance. Chemi cals used post flowering approaching harvest should be those with high substantive EU MRLs to reduce the risk of exceeding the MRL. Only chemicals approved for use on table grapes in the country of application should be used. Chemicals that target Botrytis include; Boscalid, Fen hexamid, Pyrimethanil, Fluopyram, Cyprodinil and Fludioxinil. In addition to biological compounds such as Bacillus subtilis (Seranade). Chemicals with LOD MRLs such as Captan should not be used for risk of residue exceedance. HARVESTING AND HYGIENE Hygiene is critical to minimise inoculum and resulting infections. Low temperature from picking to packing is

critical. It is also important to avoid picking when product is wet from either rain, recent rain or condensation. Con densation should be avoided through the process. All materials that come into contact with the grapes must have the strictest hygiene to avoid the spread of infec tion. Field crates, scissor and surface cleanliness is es sential. The harvesters and packers must use clean scissors or secateurs that have been disinfected at regular intervals throughout the day, ideally the scissors would be cleaned after touching any mould. Cleaning the scissors of spores will reduce the risk of spreading diseases across bunch es. Packhouse hygiene is essential in all situations but es pecially when handling product with any risk of Botrytis. Field crates must be cleaned and disinfected after each days use. Scissors should be disinfected at regular intervals throughout the day (when in use); scissors should be cleaned after touching any mould. Great care to avoid scissor cuts. Surfaces such as tables should be regularly cleaned and disinfected as part of the cleaning schedule. Field crates must be stored off the ground to prevent soil from the base of the crate transferring to the grapes when placed on top. Field crates must be cleaned and disinfected after each days use. All signs of Botrytis and other moulds must be removed from the bunches prior to putting in the raw material field crates. Where practically possible any bunches that had mould should not be packed to reduce the mould spore count, production and development. Mould where prac tically possible should be removed from the vineyard to reduce further infection. All split berries must be removed, as these are open wounds and are highly susceptible to infection. The packers must not cause scissor cuts, as these are primary sites of infection on arrival in the UK. Bunches where the pedicel attachment is weak are not suitable for long transit, as the open wounds are high risk for in fection or bleaching. This can be avoided by not using CCPU. Care should be taken to avoid over handling, especially turn bunches over which loosens berry attachment and breaks stems. Product needing heavy selection is not suitable, such as excessively large bunches or compact bunches.

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Origin Fruit Group | Grape Packing Guide