Top-fruit producer Adrian Scripps Ltd, based at Tonbridge in Kent, has reflected that 2024 “has possibly been one of the most difficult seasons, as far as weather has been concerned”. Managing Director James Simpson made the comments to Freshplaza, after Adrian Scripps Ltd completed its Braeburn harvest on 22 November. “The blossom period was generally cool and dull; although May was one of the warmest on record, the average temperature was mainly due to warmer nights, not good pollinating weather during the day,” he explained.
“We had one good weekend at the start of May, that meant that growers with good levels of flower at that stage generally set reasonable crops. If growers had little flower, they missed the opportunity to set the crop. The summer was cool, with low light levels through the critical period pre-harvest, this has affected sugar levels with some growers and varieties. Harvest has been one of the wettest for many years; this has been reflected across the continent as well. We were expecting the timing of the harvest to be similar to previous years. Fruit did not mature as quickly as we had anticipated and there was quite a variation in maturity on the tree, we believe due to the prolonged flowering period through the dull May”.
He added that the company is working to develop and deploy new technologies with companies including Aura and B-Hive with an Innovate UK funded project to develop a fruit scanning system”