Robust Pome Fruit Varieties for Sustainable Organic Growing

This document addresses the challenges of sustainable organic pome fruit farming under climate change, focusing on disease and stress resistance. It promotes the adoption of robust, climate-resilient varieties to reduce reliance on chemical inputs, lower costs, and improve yield stability. The report highlights the need for diversified breeding strategies to overcome the limitations of single resistance genes, which are becoming ineffective due to pathogen evolution and environmental changes. It calls for collaboration among growers, breeders, marketers, and consumers to support resistant cultivars and accept fruits with minor cosmetic imperfections. The initiative is part of the BIOFRUITNET network, with resources available through Organic Eprints and the BIOFRUITNET website.