Three important forums will be added to the keynote lectures that will be part of the program offering of CherryTech, the first technical event specialized in cherry production, which will take place on June 29 at the Sun Monticello Convention Center.
Walter Masman, consultant and specialist in cherry and stone fruit, will be in charge of moderating the forum entitled: “Classic varieties and new varieties: Are we prepared for the change?”
“The idea of the forum is to be able to address the implications of the imprint of all the new varietal offerings, the new genetic programs, the challenge that implies for the industry to be able to continue maintaining a product that, until now, has been successful and undoubtedly improve it over time; this implies understanding the management of these, knowing that some forms of business will probably change, both from the point of view of the acquisition of the plants, in what it means to pay royalties, and in what it means for the producer to have the responsibility of having a product that must be equal to or better than what exists today,” said Walter Masman, moderator of the forum.
The specialist also highlighted the need for “learn, see, try things, taking into account that the vast majority of the new varietal offering also brings some type of prior knowledge”; This fruit species is not only produced in Chile, so it is possible to know the weaknesses and strengths of each new variety.
Meet the panelists of the variety forum
The forum dedicated to varieties and new varieties will feature three panelists: Samuel Vengas, agricultural manager of Hacienda Los Quillayes; Óscar Aliaga, specialist advisor on cherry trees, founder and technical director of Only Cherries; Matías Kulczewski, specialist advisor on fruit trees, founder and technical director of Asesorías K&R.
“The cherry industry has had the greatest growth in recent years of all the national fruit industry. Consequently, this growth has put to the test the adaptability of all those who participate in the production chain, from the fields to the final customers. However, the growth achieved has gone hand in hand with greater demands; customers prefer sweeter and firmer cherries, with better color and sizes, which has favored in parallel the search and development of new varieties from different parts of the world, which adapt more or better to each of the geographical areas where they are currently produced and, also, open opportunities for areas where it was very difficult to think of growing them before,” said Samuel Venegas., agricultural manager of Hacienda Los Quillayes, and panelist at Cherry Tech.
Renowned advisor Óscar Aliaga, for his part, also referred to the interesting topic that will be discussed at one of the CherryTech forums, and of which he will be a panelist: “The first question we have to ask ourselves is: Do we need new varieties or can we continue with the ones we have traditionally? Today we are talking about main varieties which are Lapins, Santina and Regina, thinking of Santina as the anchor variety of the early ones, Lapins as the anchor of the mid-season, and Regina of the late ones. We could say yes, if we can put Santina further north, but Santina further north or in less cold areas limits production, because Santina requires more cold than the coast or the north can provide, so there is a need in the northern area, in areas with less winter cold, to put or have varieties with less cold requirements, in order to have a wider early window that has all the necessary attributes, that has a good post-harvest, that is accepted by the market; if the Chinese don’t like it, we are in trouble,” Aliaga pointed out.
Specialists emphasize the importance of post-harvesting of new varieties, considering that the fruit must maintain its attributes during the long journey to the different markets.
“New varieties are a big issue, in all fruit growing and in all agriculture, as a professional one of the relevant aspects of the success of clients, of entrepreneurs, of farmers who start in this cherry business, is the choice of varieties and thanks to a business initiative, a market that supports the matter, there are a series of genetic improvement programs in progress with many incursions of new varieties and, obviously, someone who is dedicated to this and studies the matter, has been concerned with knowing it as best as possible within its reality of incipient, new state, because while a variety does not acquire volume and is distributed within the entire supply channel, from the nursery to the final consumption, it is not possible to make a true judgment of it; there is a technical aspect that brings us together here, but there is also a commercial aspect that is important,” he said. Matías Kulczewski, specialist advisor on fruit trees and panelist at the forum “Classic varieties and new varieties: Are we prepared for the change?”
Kulczewski, along with Walter Masman, moderator of the forum, Samuel Venegas and Óscar Aliaga, will analyze this contingent technical topic for 45 minutes in a relaxed conversation that will allow them to cover the different aspects of traditional varieties and new varieties.
Tickets for Cherry Tech, granting access to masterclasses and forums, are now on sale.
