Purdue researchers look for new ways to improve growth of apples

By Kelly Kingen
Summer Reporter

Researchers from Purdue are looking at ways to decrease apple growers' dependency upon pesticides.

This past spring, Purdue planted more than 500 trees that researchers plan to study over the next 10 years in order to learn more about organic growing methods.

Rick Foster, an associate professor of entomology, said, "There are two general objectives. One is to evaluate if we can grow apples organically. Secondly, to look at innovated non-chemical ways to produce apples."

The majority of apple orchards across the state are dependent upon pesticides and chemicals to produce their crops. However, farmers may face the threat of losing the right to use certain pesticides.

An announcement is due out later this week by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regarding the fate of Lorsban.

Foster said Lorsban was an insecticide used to kill a wide range of insects, and that it may have a potential effect on the human nervous system as well as the environment.

If the EPA does ban Lorsban, it should not have a significant impact on the orchards here in Indiana. But, if other pesticides like Guthion and Imidan are banned, growers may feel more of an affect, said Foster.

Although organic growing methods may avoid potential health and environmental affects, many growers choose to produce their crops by using chemicals because it is more profitable. Many organic farmers struggle with making a profit and researchers hope that new methods can help these farmers increase their bottom line.

"Typically, organic fruits cost more," Foster said.

A higher selling price is often the result of organic foods requiring a lot of manual labor and being more costly to produce.

Another reason why growers stick to using pesticides is so they produce perfect-looking fruit. Many people tend to buy the chemically produced food rather than organically grown food simply based on its appearance.

"Hopefully, we can reach the point where we can develop a method that growers can use to grow organic apples profitably," said Foster.