Use of microbiome amendments to improve propagation efficiency, cultivation sustainability, productivity and resilience in the Kent and Medway raspberry industry

肯特和梅德韦的覆盆子产业独特地包含了从育种到生产和销售的整个价值链，以及支持它的相关产业。该项目旨在通过开发可持续的新型繁殖方法，提高英国覆盆子产业的恢复能力。目前，对覆盆子繁殖材料的需求超过了供应，特别是对流行的新品种，如“Malling Bella”。高效优质的覆盆子生产高度依赖于由专业繁殖人员以高健康标准生产的健康、旺盛的种植材料。目前所需的大部分材料都是从欧盟进口的，所有植物材料都需要认证，并需要不断更换。随着能源和燃料成本的上涨，以及英国脱欧后进口变得更加昂贵和复杂，这一问题变得更加突出，导致英国覆盆子生产和更广泛的英国水果行业面临压力。树莓的繁殖目前成本高，效率低，需要创新的策略来开发可持续的方法，以确保该行业的未来。在英国，对覆盆子生产的主要威胁是甘蔗的质量和数量以及植株存活率。在这个项目中，我们将制定一个可持续的综合管理策略，将商业上可获得的有益微生物的使用纳入当前的繁殖实践。丛枝菌根真菌（AMF）已被证明有助于植物的建立和生存，同时减少生产所需的投入。我们之前的研究表明，在软果繁殖中加入AMF可以增加真菌的建立，并且在生产现场种植前的冷藏过程中真菌仍保持活性。有益微生物将被纳入树莓繁殖的关键阶段，以提高植物的生存能力，生长和产量。该项目将解决生产持续健康无病的“Malling Bella”覆盆子植株的挑战，同时重新使用具有增强微生物多样性的椰子基质，从而提高该品种和其他Malling品种的种植者的生产成功率和市场准入，在英国和其他地区。

The raspberry industry in Kent and Medway uniquely comprises the whole value chain, from breeding through to production and sales, and the allied industries that support it. This project aims to increase the resilience of the UK raspberry industry, by developing sustainable novel propagation methods. Currently the demand for propagated raspberry material outstrips supply, especially for popular new varieties such as 'Malling Bella'. Efficient quality raspberry production is highly dependent on healthy, vigorous planting material produced by specialist propagators to high health standards. Much of the current material required is imported from the EU and all plant material requires certification and requires constant replacement. This issue is heightened with rising energy and fuel costs along with post-Brexit imports becoming more costly and complicated, leading to strain on UK Raspberry production and the wider UK fruit industry. Raspberry propagation is currently costly and inefficient requiring innovative strategies to develop a sustainable approach to secure the future of the industry. The main threat to raspberry production in the UK is the quality and quantity of canes produced and the plant survival rate.In this project we will develop a sustainable and integrated management strategy, incorporating the use of commercially available beneficial microorganisms into current propagation practise. Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF) have been shown to aid the establishment and survivability of plants whilst reducing the inputs needed for production. Our previous research suggests that AMF increases establishment when incorporated into soft fruit propagation and fungi remain active after the cold storage process preceding planting in the production site. Beneficial microbes will be incorporated into the key stages of raspberry propagation to improve the survivability, growth and yield of plants. The project will address the challenge to produce consistent healthy disease-free 'Malling Bella' raspberry plants whilst re-using coir substrates with enhanced microbial diversity, consequently increasing production success and market access for growers of this and other Malling varieties, in K&M, the UK and beyond.