Despite the increased production and sales of apples from alternative farming systems,the horticultural performance and fruit quality of organic,conventional,and integrated fruit production system have not been fully examined in Washington State.Transitional organic and conventional apple orchads have been compared for orchad productivity(i.e.,yields,insect and disease pest incidence,mineral concentration,soil quality)in California () and at-harvest or postharvest fruit quality of organically and conventionally grown apples have been studied in Canada and Switzerland