1/15/08 Fruit Flash Cards

Fruit Flash Cards. I'm Greg Martin with today's Fruit Grower Report. The apples you buy at the store are the cream of the crop. What comes into packing houses often is a mix of good and not so good fruit that must be gone through with a knowledgeable eye. WSU's Tree Fruit Research and Extension Service has developed what are essentially flash cards according to Education Project Manager, Wendy Jones. JONES: The idea is it's sort of a quick identification guide showing different arthropod damage, mostly that's insect damage and some of the diseases, physiological disorders, some of the mechanical  field type injury and sunburn issues you'd run across off of the packing line. The flash cards can be used by workers to quickly identify the various problems Jones talked about. She says a variety of people can benefit from the cards. JONES: Mostly like your fruit quality people, ones that are actually pulling stuff off the cull line and looking and scoring things. Most packing houses prepare what they call a packout report that goes back to the grower so the grower knows what the rejects were rejected for. And while she admits that this is not new information, the hope by the team that developed the cards is that it will help standardize some issues. JONES: This is sort of an attempt to help them and then also in some way try to standardize a little bit what everybody is calling a certain type of damage but also educate them  especially the insect part. There's such a disconnect between the people in the packing house and what's going on out in the orchard. The cards are currently available for purchase. For more information, visit WSU's Tree Fruit Research web site. That's today's Fruit Grower Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.