With the arrival of a weekend characterized by the expected rainfall, experts point out that we are immersed in an unstable spring, attributed to the "El Niño" phenomenon in the 2023-24 season. This climatic condition has generated significantly high levels of rainfall, leading to flooding that has affected several cherry orchards during the winter.
The continued rain expected this coming weekend in November poses a potential threat to crops in advanced phenological stages, some of them in the colour-setting stage. In this context, the importance of having effective solutions for fruit protection becomes evident.
It is in this scenario that the relevance of the Parka product, offered by the renowned company UPL, stands out as an indispensable tool to safeguard cherry crops against the inclement weather that is coming.
This is supported by a study by the University of Chile academic Karen Sagredo, who evaluated the use of Parka in cherry trees with splitting in mind. In cherry trees, she found that the results of splitting control could differ depending on many factors, such as variety, firmness, concentration of soluble solids and calcium nutrition.
Likewise, the study on Parka carried out by the academician, points out the mutual potentiation with gibberellic acid and less dehydration in post-harvest. Parka favors the penetration or wetting time so that the gibberellic acid penetrates well, reducing the susceptibility to cracking and increasing the firmness of the fruit. “We have been working with gibberellic acid for 5 years and it has been spectacular,” said Sagredo.
According to Karen Sagredo, it does indeed reduce susceptibility to cracking, the fruit is firmer and, apparently, Parka helps by reducing microcracks, but mainly it also improves the wetting action time so that the gibberellic acid can penetrate properly, and increases the effect.
In addition, Parka also caused less dehydration and less deterioration of the pedicel during post-harvest. “I liked that even more than its impact on reducing microcracks,” said the academic from the University of Chile.
“Imagine, arriving with a cherry with less dehydration, less water loss and a greener pedicel, I think it is a tremendous plus from the price point of view at the time of sale in the destination market. These are interesting novelties, because one starts to try one thing and ends up discovering others,” concluded Karen Sagredo.
In this way, and based on expert opinion, UPL Parka is positioned as a protective solution against cherry splitting and also provides other benefits to the fruit.
