By establishing itself in the production areas of today and tomorrow, CTIFL highlights the challenges of competitiveness and sustainability in the fruit and vegetable sector.
The trial visit organized at the Lanxade Center provided an opportunity to share concrete and innovative solutions designed to support producers in this transition.
Several themed workshops were offered to participants:
Mechanical thinning, a response to labor challenges
Presentations of tools such as Eclairvale® and FHT 800 demonstrated the advantages and limitations of post-flowering mechanical thinning: reducing fruit load, improving apple size, and reducing manual labor time. This practice is mainly suited to orchards with narrow fruit hedges, contributing to more efficient production.
Spraying and weeding: optimizing practices
Spraying: new qualitative and quantitative diagnostic tools facilitate sprayer adjustments, optimizing treatment effectiveness while reducing their environmental impact.
Weeding: mechanical alternatives (SOLAD-FL project) offer a glimpse of herbicide-free solutions, a major lever for preserving the environment and the growth of young plants.
UVBoosting: naturally boosting trees' defenses
UV-C technology, tested in orchards, boosts natural defenses against fungal diseases and climatic stress. With no chemicals or residues, this innovation is currently being tested at the CTIFL center in Lanxade.
Mechanized orchards: towards a new design
The move towards two-dimensional systems – Mur fruitier and Aximum© – marks a key milestone. Suitable for mechanization, these systems facilitate cultivation, reduce labor intensity, and offer new prospects for competitiveness in the sector.
Rootstocks: diversity and adaptation to climate change
Long dominated by M9, the choice of rootstocks is expanding. The new selections tested at CTIFL are more efficient, offer better tolerance to disease and water stress, and are adapted to new mechanized practices, confirming their strategic role in the sustainability of production systems.
Through these workshops, the trial visit highlighted the solutions that have been tested and their complementarity.