October is National Apple Month!
Updated: 5 days ago
The US is a top producer of apples. About 11.6 billion pounds of apples are produced annually. Apples are popular among consumers, but producers face many challenges, including environmental conditions, pests and diseases, and labor shortages. The industry is also trying to find ways to improve the storage and shelf life of apples.
As part of multistate projects, researchers at land-grant universities are improving apple production, harvest, yield, and quality.
New apple tree rootstocks helped growers transition from large trees spaced far apart to compact rows of high-yielding, small trees, making orchard maintenance and harvest easier. This work ha also increased apple yields by 20% and apple size by 10%, providing estimated gains of $200 million.
A mechanized harvest-assist device designed by Pennsylvania State University researchers can eliminate ladder falls and increase the number of apples harvested per second 50%.
Studies at Cornell University showed that dynamic controlled atmosphere storage significantly delays stem end flesh browning in Gala apples.
Growers are using recommended treatments and protocols to store apple crops worth tens of millions of dollars.
Learn more about the featured projects:
