NIAB EMR is a horticultural and agricultural research institute at

East Malling East Malling is a village in the borough of Tonbridge and Malling, Kent, in the part of the civil parish of East Malling and Larkfield lying south of the A20 road. In 2019 the ward had an estimated population of 5478. History The earliest reco ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

in England, with a specialism in

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...

and clonally propagated crop production. In 2016, the institute became part of the NIAB Group.

History

Cross section of Telamon, National Fruit Collection (acc

A research station was established on the East Malling site in 1913 on the impetus of local fruit growers. The original buildings are still in use today. Some of the finest and most important research on perennial crops has been conducted on the site, resulting in East Malling’s worldwide reputation. Some of the more well-known developments have been achieved in the areas of plant raising,

plant culture (especially the development of

rootstock A rootstock is part of a plant, often an underground part, from which new above-ground growth can be produced. It could also be described as a stem with a well developed root system, to which a bud from another plant is grafted. It can refer to a ...

s), fruit breeding, ornamental breeding, fruit storage and the biology and control of pests and diseases.Apples: British to the Core - BBC4 June 2011
/ref> From 1990 a division of Horticulture Research International (HRI) was on the site. HRI closed in 2009. In 2016, East Malling Research became part of the National Institute of Agricultural Botany (NIAB) group.

Apple rootstocks

In 1912,

Ronald Hatton Sir Ronald George Hatton, (6 July 1886 – 11 November 1965) was a British horticulturalist and pomologist. Life Hatton was born in Kilburn, London.''England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1837-1915'' His father Ernest Hatton wa ...

initiated the work of classification, testing and standardisation of

apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...

tree

s. With the help of Dr Wellington, Hatton sorted out the incorrect naming and mixtures then widespread in apple rootstocks distributed throughout

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. These verified and distinct apple rootstocks are called the "

Malling series The Malling series is a group of rootstocks for grafting apple trees. It was developed at the East Malling Research Station of the South-Eastern Agricultural College at Wye in Kent, England. From about 1912, Ronald Hatton and his colleagues ...

". The most widespread used was the M9 rootstock.

Structure

It is situated east of East Malling, and north of the

Maidstone East Line The Maidstone line is a railway line between Swanley, Maidstone and Ashford in Kent, England. The line diverges from the Chatham Main Line at Swanley Junction and proceeds down the Darenth valley to Otford junction Retrieved 2012-01-12 (where th ...

. The western half of the site is in

East Malling and Larkfield East Malling is a civil parish in Kent which includes the villages of East Malling, Kent, East Malling and Larkfield, Kent, Larkfield. History The parish was renamed from "East Malling" on 19 April 1962. References

Civil parishes in K ...

and the eastern half is in Ditton. It is just south of the A20, and between junctions 4 and 5 of the

M20 motorway The M20 is a motorway in Kent, England. It follows on from the A20 at Swanley, meeting the M25, and continuing on to Folkestone, providing a link to the Channel Tunnel and the ports at Dover. It is long. Although not signposted in England, ...

Function

Today the Research Centre also acts as a business enterprise centre supported by leading local businesses including QTS Analytical and Network Computing Limited. The conference centreEast Malling Conference Centre
/ref> trades as East Malling Ltd, being incorporated on 17 February 2004. East Malling Research Station - geograph

East Malling Research Station - geograph

References

External links

{{authority control Horticultural organisations based in the United Kingdom Research institutes in Kent Agricultural research institutes in the United Kingdom Genetics or genomics research institutions Botanical research institutes Apples Buildings and structures in Kent Organizations established in 1913 1913 establishments in England Horticultural companies of the United Kingdom Tonbridge and Malling