Producers, advisors, and professionals in the field attended the seminar “Advances in Agronomic Management of Cherry Cultivation to Produce Quality Fruit.”
The National Institute of Agricultural Research (INIA) organized the meeting to provide updated technical tools and promote agronomic practices that allow producers to improve the quality of their cherries for export.
The event held in Chillán featured five presentations by researchers Juan Hirzel (soil fertility specialist), Cristian Balbontín (fruit tree phytotechnics), Paz Millas (plant pathology), Daina Grinbergs (wood diseases), and Edgard Álvarez, a post-harvest expert from INIA La Platina.
All presentations emphasized the key premise that the future of the cherry business depends on prioritizing the quality of the fruit over the quantity produced.
In this regard, Juan Hirzel stated that “as INIA, we seek to carry out work that allows us to improve productivity and quality, thus helping producers to be more efficient and to use their resources correctly.”
He added that the seminar provided critical information aimed at determining where it is possible to reduce costs, how to improve fruit quality, practices to abandon, and mistakes that are being made.
Additionally, advice was given on the proper management of irrigation and oxygenation in orchards, reference values for tissue analysis differentiating between rootstocks (Colt, Maxma-14, Gisela-s, Sour Cherry) and between the varieties Nimba, Sweet Aryana, Santina, Lapins, and Regina, all based on recent studies conducted by INIA in the country.
Furthermore, the INIA researcher highlighted the need to adopt modern techniques and to leave behind some classical application practices such as reliance on pesticides and copper products.
In this regard, he emphasized that “the idea is for us to incorporate new molecules, mainly of organic nature, which will allow us to maintain healthier, longer-lasting orchards with less stress on plants.”
Emphasis on Quality
“The vision of the business cannot continue to be volume but rather quality,” clarified Juan Hirzel, explaining that this translates into sacrificing part of the potential yield, which reduces harvesting costs and other associated expenses.
The specialist emphasized that all the speakers agreed on the need to improve the quality of the fruit. “If we employ the practices we presented in this seminar, with an agronomic management tailored to the variety and target yield, we will make progress along this path,” he concluded.
The Importance of Color
For his part, agronomist Vicente Vargas, with extensive experience in exporting companies, valued the holding of these types of seminars where “you always learn.” He highlighted that “the information provided by INIA is backed by research, and that has another value.”
One of the topics that caught his attention was the importance of determining color as an indicator for assessing optimal harvest conditions, as well as deciding which fruit is destined for export and which is not. “Today, a producer who doesn’t pack 90% or 95% cries out; however, for apples, 75% to 80% is a very good packing percentage,” he pointed out, adding that “in cherries, not everything is exportable.”
Vargas argued that sending second-category fruit abroad “damages the reputation of Chilean products in demanding markets like China,” concluding that “we have to get used to accepting that the market does not absorb everything.”
