In this episode, we connect with Alberto Ramos-Luz, a Research Officer in the Horticulture Development Department at Teagasc, based in Oak Park, Carlow, Ireland. Alberto is at the forefront of research aimed at advancing the apple-growing industry in Ireland. His work involves identifying apple varieties with the best market and agronomic traits and creating production protocols to ensure high yield, quality, and consistency…

Alberto has been working with and studying apple trees since 2006. His specialties lie in temperate fruit crops, including apples and pears, tree management, training systems, and evaluation of cultivars and rootstocks. 

After earning his qualifications as a Technologist in Fruit Crops in 2010, Alberto went on to pursue a master's in Plant Production in 2012 and completed his Ph.D. in 2016. He then worked as a postdoctoral associate at UDESC, where he focused on cutting-edge research in crop load management, studied how apple and pear trees perform when grafted onto different rootstocks, and trained in various systems.

Hit play to hear Alberto's insights on: 

• The many different groups of horticulture.
• How pests impact apples and pears.
• The primary objectives of fruit breeding and genomics. 
• What "apple scab" is, and how it is mitigated with scientific methods. 
• The benefits of pruning crop trees. 

You can find more information about Alberto and his work at Teagasc here!

Episode also available on Apple Podcast: http://apple.co/30PvU9C