Cherry is one of the most important fruit species at a national level, with a surface area of more than 61 thousand hectares. During the last season, more than 415 thousand tons were exported, with more than 851 TP3T of this volume going to China, where wide differences in prices were observed according to the sizes, highlighting that XL sizes have very low profitability and must be removed from the market.
For this reason, it is extremely important to promote the production of cherries of an adequate size and that meet the quality and condition parameters established by the destination market, in order to ensure greater returns for both producers and exporters. Although there are different strategies to promote the development of larger and better quality fruits, this is because potassium allows maintaining cell turgor, promotes cell division and expansion, allows greater absorption of water and nutrients, distributing them better within the plant. In this way, it contributes to obtaining cherries with the firmness, color, flavor and sweetness expected by consumers.
It is in this context that IBITERRA presents an excellent option to meet potassium requirements and improve the size of cherries. IBICARBOX POTASIO® is a potassium oxide (K2O) at 27% w/v complexed with high purity carboxylic acids, for root application that enhances potassium fertilization, increases the entry of water and nutrients to the plant, controls transpiration, improves the size, pressure and soluble solids content of the fruit. Thanks to its formulation associated with carboxylic acids, it has a high assimilation speed, which causes a high osmotic pressure in the root. This favors the entry of water and nutrients from the soil towards the leaves, allowing greater availability of these elements throughout the fruit filling stage. In addition, IBICARBOX POTASIO® acts as an osmotic regulator, reducing the incidence of water stress.
IBITERRA, with the aim of demonstrating the multiple benefits of IBICARBOX POTASIO® in the production and obtaining good sizes in cherry trees, carried out the following study. The test was carried out in a commercial orchard of Regina variety cherry trees that was in full production, located in the commune of Chillán, Ñuble Region, Chile.
This evaluation was carried out under a completely randomized experimental design, establishing the application of two treatments on trees with similar productive potential at the beginning of the season. Treatment T0 (Control) included the application of 420 kg/ha of potassium sulphate and treatment T1 included the application of 420 kg/ha of potassium sulphate plus 40 lt/ha of IBICARBOX POTASIO®. The total dose of both treatments was equally divided over 7 weeks from fruit growth.
In relation to productivity, it can be observed in Figure 1 that no significant differences were observed between the treatments. However, the application of IBICARBOX POTASIO® increased the total production per hectare by 289 kilos, without harming the percentage of exportable fruit. This is mainly due to the fact that potassium helps to increase the flow of water and nutrients towards the growing fruits.
On the other hand, Figure 2 shows that the application of IBICARBOX POTASIO® helped to shift the size curve towards larger sizes. This has allowed for a greater return on production, since XL and XL sizes have a much lower price than larger sizes.
Table 1 presents the quality parameters analysed at the time of harvest, observing that the firmness, weight and soluble solids content in the fruit were not statistically affected by the treatments. This is because the application of IBICARBOX POTASIO® favours the movement of water, sugars and nutrients within the plant, which ensures that the quality of the fruit is not affected by a higher production load.
Finally, it should be noted that IBICARBOX POTASIO® allows for greater production, with larger sizes and export quality. Using IBICARBOX POTASIO® improves the profitability and quality of the fruit.
