For years the cherry industry has had its eyes set on the so-called new varieties. The varietal replacement, as has happened with other species, is imminent. In this context, various investigations, genetic programs, imports of new varieties have been carried out, and some of the results are already visible.
To learn more about this, we spoke with Walter Masman, a specialist in cherry production, who has been focused on varietal replacement for several years.
“The emergence of this variety offer literally has no date in itself. It is particularly associated with the growth of the cherry business here in Chile, where probably if one wanted to put a date on it, this is associated with the growth in surface area and volume. One could estimate approximately from the year 2017, 2018 approximately, where in relation to a business that begins to mature, to specialize on the other hand, it needs and demands a product that improves on what exists today, particularly in quality and that can satisfy what the client demands today,” commented the specialist.
The cherry varietal replacement has been marked by successes and failures; numerous varieties have already made their commercial debut, others are getting ready to do so. But what characteristics should these new varieties have? What is the objective of cherry varietal replacement in Chile? Are producers only looking for earlier varieties or also later ones?
Before answering these questions, it is necessary to review the main varieties of cherries currently produced in Chile; in this context, the specialist advisor on cherries and stone fruits Walter Masman met in 2023 with a group of specialists in order to evaluate what is being produced today. The summary of this meeting is reflected in the following table.
After evaluating these 11 varieties, the group of specialists who met with Walter Masman unanimously defined the need to replace Frisco, Royal Dawn, Skeena, Sweetheart.
So, what are the main new varieties that are currently showing the best prospects and that could replace the ones mentioned above? What aspects stand out in them?
“As an example, within the early variety offering we find the program that currently provides offers of Nimba, Pacific Red, Epic 16, as an interesting offer in the early stage. I think that there are also at least one or two varieties that are also very interesting from the point of view of post-harvest, from those early producers that due to demands that the market could have at some point, for example, waiting times from the point of view of the arrival of the fruit to be sold, to be able to have those legs, so to speak, that can facilitate the product being sold without any problem. On the other hand, we go to the Unibo program, belonging to the University of Bologna, where today the Sweet Aryana varieties, personally, I think it is an interesting variety from the point of view of bringing together the early, early, pre Santina, with a product that, up to now, according to what we have been able to evaluate, responds perfectly to what the market requires, obviously assuming the maturity of the experience that the producers have today, that we have today to estimate the harvest points well in order not to make mistakes and it could be a variety that responds very well to what the client demands today, the post-harvest, I have evaluated it quite well so far,” commented Masman.
In the recent season, Chile exported more than 413 thousand tons of cherries, and its main destination was China. Of that total, according to data provided in the iQonsulting yearbook, the main variety was Lapins, followed by Santina, Regina and seven others. However, the table shows almost 5,385 tons under the concept of “others”; this is where the so-called “new varieties” are included.
“Within that, I think that only one interesting offer would be Sweet Gabriel, a variety with very low cold requirements, particularly compared to what we saw last season. I think that there is another aspect that needs to be improved in relation to that. And as a variety under evaluation from now on, there would be Sweet Zaretta, Sweet Stephanie, within this same program. Within another interesting program in the early season, there is the Cherry Cupid variety, which is a very early variety, which particularly in the early season satisfies the demands in terms of having a volume that occupies that sales niche. I think that its evaluation is also interesting, since the post-harvest part of this variety still remains to be seen,” said Walter Masman.
Currently in Chile and around the world there are various genetic programs that seek the perfect variety in terms of harvest date, flavor, color, Brix degrees, turgor, and post-harvest.
“The replacement process has had significant growth in the last four years practically, where there has been an impetus on the part of producers to want to be there, and I believe that on many occasions with ideas of only positioning themselves and experimenting, often with little analysis from the point of view of the project itself, in what the varieties need, what they require, how to produce them properly, in recent years, I dare say since post pandemic, given that many of the varieties have not met what was initially expected in the face of a process of experimentation, evaluation, not very long, they have generated some uncertainty and there has been a process of stoppage from the point of view of evaluating a little more and then continuing to plant,” warned the specialist.
Is 2024 then a crucial year in this cherry varietal replacement?
“Today, this year 2024, is the year in which these varieties are making an important debut for me personally. At least I think there are four or five varieties that are making an interesting debut, where we will finally be able to see what the sensation is, what the response is from the client, in such a way that we can evaluate post-season, which are the varieties that stood out, which ones did not, and which are the aspects that we can undoubtedly improve so that this product is maintained. I insist that there will be varieties that will come out very well evaluated and probably others that will leave the system as part of a natural process that the varieties that have always lived in fruit growing in any species experience. That's right, today the early market, as I have always said, is still dissatisfied. If one analyzes the behavior of these last four years, especially in these last two years with 80 million boxes, we see that week 43, 44, 45, literally 46, the demand is still very important and that is undoubtedly associated with prices. Therefore, everything that comes early still has a very important potential today, the problem is that the agroclimatic zones in Chile that are early are difficult to distinguish, to identify, it is difficult to be able to counteract many times the deficiencies of cold, the requirements of degree days, the absence of frost and a lot of things in order for them to converge with the requirements that this species requires," said Walter Masman.
Varietal replacement has been concentrated mainly on early varieties, always considering that the Chinese New Year is celebrated on moving dates between January and February of each season; this celebration marks a before and after in each cherry campaign.
“The idea has literally been centered on early, and early is actually looking for varieties with low cold requirements that can be developed in these types of areas. Regarding late, one has to first of all focus on what the business is like, late today with what already exists. Today we have the certainty and clarity that as our volume has grown, late is complicated and particularly closely associated with the Chinese New Year dates where as long as there is a lot of fruit left to sell, late is complicated (the sale of what cannot be sold is complicated and later that drags and complicates what is coming and is yet to be sold. Unfortunately, late has not been able to stand out from the point of view of quality, the fruit produced in the southern area of Chile presents inconveniences, probably today still associated with a climate issue, soil strongly, and on the other hand with what is management, and today we are trying to improve the quality of Regina, this is with name and surname,” added the advisor.
One of the new varieties that made its commercial debut this past season was Nimba; it has a potential size of 30 to 32 millimeters, and a flowering to harvest time of 55 days or even less. Aryana, on the other hand, can reach 28 to 30 millimeters, and has 60 days or less between flowering and harvest. Santina and Lapins have a potential of 26 to 28 millimeters and 28 to 30 millimeters, respectively.
What about the later varieties? Is there interest in Chile?
“Today, one thinks that an interesting market to satisfy or supply would be the market for cherry sales in the month of March, where the supply of this product, of this species, declines sharply, therefore any product, any variety that could arrive in that month would be very interesting, therefore if we are talking about sales in March we are literally talking about harvests in the month of February, therefore to the extent that we look for late varieties that meet what the client demands, I think that is where the possibility lies for this market to remain and be a very interesting market, perhaps eventually homologating the early market that exists today in Chile,” explained Masman.
Whether we like it or not, varietal replacement will occur. When will the varieties that currently present the greatest problems in terms of the demands of international markets be replaced? The answer is uncertain. However, as research, genetic programs, productive and pre-commercial tests and, of course, the launch of new varieties advance, the panorama will become clearer.
The great certainty of the cherry industry is the care that must be taken to avoid falling into what happened with the varietal replacement of grapes several years ago.
“In relation to that, if one analyzes the table grape market, it was focused for many years on 4 or 5 varieties, however, genetic programs were being developed in different countries, different types of programs, until at some point the development of Peru began and Peru precisely aimed at this varietal replacement and effectively in relation to these aspects, to these novel and new characteristics on the part of the new varieties, it implied a change in the point of view of the demand to the client wanting these varieties with different flavors, with different colors, with different harvest dates. Chile was left, I insist, in the old, Peru absolutely a complete replacement in the new and we were left behind,” warned Masman.
Chile is currently the country with the largest genetic offer in terms of new cherry varieties, which undoubtedly implies greater challenges; in turn, research, testing and, of course, commitment and joint work by the entire cherry industry.
“The main point is to literally get informed. Today there is a lot of information from different sources, particularly today everything we find online, there are different talks, there are webinars, there are several colleagues who are involved among ourselves, we communicate what are the good things, the bad things; today there is a lot of information, therefore I think that in the face of that demand, in the face of that need, the first thing is to get informed. Today we assume many risks very early at the expense of the producer, undoubtedly many times. Therefore, the producer has to be aware of knowing what the area is, what is the rootstock of the combination (…) therefore, one must be very objective in the evaluation and obviously wait for what one effectively demands according to the season that one is living,” concluded the specialist advisor in cherries and stone fruits, Walter Masman.
