384 J.L. BECKERMAN AND G.W. SUNDIN
announcement from FirstFruits Marketing has promoted the cultivar
“Opal” as “a natural combination of “Topaz” and “Golden Delicious”—
and as “Non-GMO Project Verified.” The appeal to consumers is that
Opal is slow to brown after being cut—a key trait of Arctic, a GMO apple
from Okanagan Specialty Fruits that has created non-browning geneti-
cally modified “Golden Delicious” and “Granny Smith.” FirstFruits has
clearly attempted to distinguish this conventionally bred quality from
the genetically modified trait that was introgressed into consumer pre-
ferred varieties, like “Golden Delicious” and “Granny Smith.” Today,
one of the most difficult challenges facing agriculture is educating con-
sumers about food production practices while at the same time educat-
ing growers to incorporate and use those technologies that encourage a
“long view” of stewardship, including the potential integration of resis-
tance genes to these pathogens, and natural resource management.
Apple growers have been quick to adopt new production prac-
tices such as high-density planting systems when presented with
ever-increasing yield potential under optimal, disease-free conditions.
Growers also readily adopt new apple cultivars as consumer demands
dictate, as demonstrated by rapidly expanded acreages of “Honeycrisp,”
“Fuji,” and “Gala” in spite of their disease susceptibilities. Growers
place a higher importance on flavor when compared with disease resis-
tance when ranking traits that would make an apple cultivar successful
(Gallardo et al. 2012). Obviously, this presumes that our ability to man-
age apples to the quality standards we currently manage will remain the
same indefinitely. Thus, modern commercial apple production forces
growers to shoulder significant risks in facing threats from apple scab
and fire blight. These risks are exacerbated by reliance on pesticides,
despite the continued loss of fungicide and bactericide chemistries
available for disease control. Future production practices for intensive
management of apples will have to focus on the integration of multiple
cultural control methods, if growers are going to stay ahead of apple
scab and fire blight. As stated in a well-known Chinese proverb, “If
we do not change our direction, we are likely to end up where we are
headed.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Research in the authors’ laboratories is supported by the National
Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Critical (CARE) program
(15022090), the NIFA Organic Transitions program (1000292), the
Michigan Apple Committee, the Michigan Tree Fruit Commission, and