“The harvest starts tomorrow, October 13, and it will be the earliest harvest that we have recorded in the last 6-7 years, it is 11 days ahead of last year and in relation to full flower, which was around 20 August of this year, one week; The climatic conditions that we have had since the end of winter and now in spring have allowed the fruit to ripen in a better way, achieving this anticipation”, said Jorge Astudillo, Production Manager of Agroindustrial Valle Arriba.
Although it was a difficult winter, with cold hour accumulation figures below expectations, the spring conditions contributed to this advance.
“We have a very marked thermal oscillation, with minimum temperatures around 5ºC – 8ºC and maximum temperatures of 20ºC – 25ºC, in other words, we have between 20 – 25 degrees Celsius of difference between the mornings and the middle of the day, so all of that has also contributed. The load is lighter, we project in the area where we are going to start, between 8,000 to 10,000 kilos per hectare, with an initial estimate that was close to 12,000, so there was a slightly softer setting, but we see that the fruit takes color much faster and has a pretty good caliber,” Astudillo said.
Although this will be the first season in which Ovalle will have a line of processes to receive and pack the cherries from the area, this first harvest will be sent to the central zone for its proper packing process.
“This fruit will be shipped around 2:00 p.m. heading to San Francisco de Mostazal and it is expected that when the truck arrives, around 9:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m., the Garcés team will be waiting to do the process the same night, to be able to ship by air the next day to China,” Jorge Astudillo clarified.
The harvest this Friday, October 13, will mark the official start of the 2023-2024 season; Starting next week in Ovalle, the Brooks variety will continue to be harvested, waiting for Santina.
“Next week we will carry out a great harvest, because now it will be a flourish and from Monday the harvest will begin with more volume and obviously with the projection of spending about 7 and 10 days with the Brooks harvest, because there we give give give 3, up to 4 rounds in the different sectors, precisely trying to get all the fruit that is ready and in this way ensure its early shipment,” concluded the Production Manager of Agroindustrial Valle Arriba, Jorge Astudillo.
Smatcherry.cl live stream
Smartcherry.cl will provide complete coverage of what will be the start of the prime cherry harvest for the 2023-24 season. In addition, at 10:00 in the morning this Friday, October 13, they will be live from the Tabalí orchard through their official Instagram account, to give the official start to a new cherry season.
