A pples have been grown and consumed for over two thousand years. Seeds and grafted trees from European cultivars were brought to North America and planted by the earliest settlers in the late 1600s. In colonial days, apples were mainly used for making cider and applejack and for feeding livestock. Today we enjoy apples year round both fresh and in a variety of processed products.
Orchards are a beautiful part of our regional landscape.
But, apples also represent many of the issues facing food production today. The challenge for growers and consumers is to create environmentally and economically sustainable fruit production systems. More than 40 insect and mite pests and 10 or more diseases threaten apple crops in the Northeast each season. Coupled with consumer demand for blemish-free, perfectly shaped fruit and heavy pest pressure, growers traditionally have relied on intensive spraying programs to keep insect and disease problems under control. Recently, there has been an increased interest from growers to reduce the risk of pesticide exposure and find alternative ways to manage pests and diseases.