Abstract
From June to November 2021, a survey has been conducted to identify the practices, the needs, and the gaps in organic fruit production of apple, pear, apricot, peach, plum, cherry and orange. 149 fruit growers and 100 technical advisors were surveyed in a total of 26 countries. Nine European countries represent 80% of the respondents. The experience in organic fruit production for the farmers and advisors ranged from 6 to 21 years and from 8 to 20 years, respectively. The four topics mentioned as being of greatest concern were diseases and pests' control, knowledge of varieties and tree /soil nutrition, whatever the fruit species. Among a total of 54 pests and 45 diseases suggested in the questionnaire, a gradient of importance of pests and diseases has been quantified for each fruit species. The number of pests and diseases of concern ranged respectively from 7 to 14 and from 7 to 15 according to fruits species. Regarding the evolution of pests and diseases pressure, the perception of the fruit growers and technical advisors allowed to identify the most threatening ones for each fruit species: e.g. Halyomorpha halys, Anthonomus pyri, Hoplocampa brevis, Myzus persicae, Delottococcus aberiae and Aleurocanthus spiniferus. For the 7 fruits species, the most important criteria in a cultivar choice remained fruit quality. Concerning rootstocks, the ranking of criteria was almost identical among fruit species: vigour and pests / diseases susceptibility appeared to be the two most important criteria.