When considering some of the problems that fruit producers have to face, especially in regions with a long tradition of fruit growing, I have a few important observations. In areas such as Grójec or Sandomierz, the fruit trees are in a situation similar to a man sitting in a barrel of chemicals. The horticulture production carried out there may soon prove to be inedible, due to the soil, whose contamination already exceeds many acceptable standards. And it is not true that the plants don’t absorb it, they do it “unconsciously”, with water and mineral salts and then transfer those “goodies” to the fruit. Planting an orchard in such a place with the intention of its ecological certification is possible, but obtaining the certificate is not. It often happens that such an orchard grows poorly in the first years and often many trees die out. And later it doesn’t bear fruit well. And the reasons? There are two main ones:

1. Large population of parasitic and small population of beneficial nematodes
2. Strong chemical contamination of the soil and loss of microbiological life; “dead soil”

Of course, diagnosis is just knowing the cause. It is more important for the fruit producer to find out what to do to restore the satisfactory condition of the culture. Of course, my prescription is a complex of microorganisms with mycorrhizal fungi, specific for these plant species as leading organisms and which give the opportunity to gradually revitalize this habitat in a more natural direction. After all, there were once fewer fruit, because there were few orchards, but they were healthier and tastier. To tell you the truth, I am afraid of eating apples today and I would not give an apple to my child.

As a company specialising in mycorrhization using our own inoculations for 20 years, I offer fruit-growers a way out of this situation. For new plantings and young orchards, we can prepare a suitable inoculation from microorganisms that will provide soil recovery on the one hand, and good growth and healthy fruit with a significantly lower contamination level, on the other. It is clear from many analyzes that the uptake of even heavy metals is then negligible. I guarantee that the fruits of plants that have specific mycorrhizal fungi on their roots are much tastier and healthier; it can be verified with fruit growers (phone number on the site).

Of course, this can be considered advertising, but information is always a form of advertising or vice versa. My offer is food for thought for fruit-growers open to new biotechnology, which is increasingly replacing chemical technology, and is definitely older in the world’s history. The interested parties may call me and we will try to help them, as fruit-growers to fruit-growers. So much for New Year’s thoughts for fruit-growers.

Włodzimierz Szałański – engineer of horticulture, SGGW