On August 4, the first flower was recorded in the cherry orchards of the Ovalle area, specifically in a block of the Brooks variety in the Tabalí orchard of the Valle Arriba SpA company.
«(The orchard) has begun, in a normal way, its sprouting, preceded by one of the best winter breaks in recent years; three weeks after breaking dormancy it begins to show its first “prima fiore” flowers, a record that allows us to begin projecting the harvest date for week 42», commented Jorge Astudillo, production manager of Agroindustrial Valle Arriba.
Last season, the first flower was recorded on July 31, four days earlier than this season.
"We are about four days late, but we are on normal dates compared to other seasons, so the start of the harvest is projected for week 42, in this situation, but we have to see what happens with the full bloom," added Astudillo.
Every year, the springs of Ovalle mark the beginning of the cherry season with the first harvests in mid-October, and the first shipments to China.
«What we do have is a better synchronization between the pollinating variety and the main one, we hadn't seen that for a while, now, we did a different management, yes, we applied cyanamide three days before in Tulares, which is the pollinating variety, and last year they were practically not synchronized; we depended mainly on the pollen that we used in the entrances and an assisted pollination that we also did, but now it looks very good. That is new, but I think it is also a product of the winter that we had so good.", commented Jorge Astudillo.
The final estimate of the start of the harvest will be announced around August 20, a date that coincides with the Field Day organized by Cerezas Primores with the sponsorship of INIA and Teno Ovalle of the Teno Group.
