The recently planted WSU research orchard will allow study of planting designs for the future. One of the new technologies Washington State University entomologist Dr. Jay Brunner expects and hopes to see in the next decade is automated sorting of fruit in the field. Apart from reducing a grower’s costs by keeping unmarketable fruit out of the warehouse, it could change pest management strategies. Currently, the level of acceptable damage to fruit by insects is extremely low because of the high cost of sending culls to the warehouse, so pest management must be intensive. “It costs a lot to have […]