Certification

The certification of plant stocks is essential for the supply of healthy plants and vitally important to fruit growers. The plants offered in this catalogue are, for the first time, being grown under the rules of the new EU Fruit Plant Certification Scheme (FPCS). This EU wide statutory scheme is based on the long-established UK and Dutch certification schemes and is designed to extend the benefits of certification across the whole of the EU. The new EU scheme is administered in the UK by the NSA and run by the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) who carry out extensive and independent inspections of all entered stocks.

FPCS – Certified Stock
Virus Tested Pedigree Mother Plants are produced by the Nuclear Stock Association (NSA) at East Malling by testing for all important viruses, pests and diseases using a full range of PCR and graft based tests. This Virus Indexed pre basic material is then used by commercial propagators to produce Basic (Grades 1 to 5) certified.

FPCS – Approved Health
When a variety is first released and before pedigree material is available from the NSA we offer stocks that have been entered and inspected at the Approved Health Grade. This grade is part of the FPCS and uses the same criteria as the Certificate Grade with regard to the health of the stocks but offers no safeguard with regards to trueness to type.

Plant Passport
When the stringent requirements of FPCS are not met, Rubus and Strawberries are inspected once only by APHA against a much reduced set of criteria in order to meet the EU Plant Passport standard (CAC).

Integrated Pest Management
In response to the continued loss of active ingredients in pesticides due to EU legislation, R.W. Walpole Ltd have introduced the routine and intensive use of predatory insects to assist in the control of Two Spotted Mite, Aphid and Tarsonemid Mite.