Almost two weeks earlier than last year, the harvest of prime cherries will begin in Ovalle, specifically in the Tabalí orchard. This Friday, October 13, the harvest of the Brooks variety will begin, marking a historical record for recent years.
«The harvest starts tomorrow, October 13th, it will be the earliest harvest we have recorded in the last 6-7 years, it is 11 days earlier than last year and one week earlier than the full flower, which was around August 20th this year; the weather conditions that have governed us since the end of winter and now spring have allowed the fruit to ripen better, achieving This anticipation"said Jorge Astudillo, Production Manager of Agroindustrial Valle Arriba.
Although it was a difficult winter, with lower than expected cold hour accumulation figures, spring conditions contributed to this advance.
«We have a very marked thermal oscillation, with minimum temperatures around 5ºC - 8ºC and maximum temperatures of 20ºC - 25ºC, that is, we have between 20 - 25 degrees Celsius difference between morning and midday, so all that has contributed, in addition, the load is lighter, we project in the area where we are going to start, between 8,000 to 10,000 kilos per hectare, with an initial estimate that was close to 12,000, so there was a slightly softer setting, but we see a much faster color taking and a fairly good caliber», Astudillo pointed out.
This Friday the harvest of delicacies begins in Ovalle
Although this will be the first season in which Ovalle will have a processing line to receive and pack cherries from the area, this first harvest will be sent to the central area for its proper packing process.
«This fruit will be dispatched around 2:00 p.m. bound for San Francisco de Mostazal and is expected to arrive at night, when the truck arrives, around 9:00-10:00 p.m. Garcés' team will be waiting to do the process that same night and the idea is to be able to dispatch by air the next day bound for China.", Jorge Astudillo clarified.
The harvest this Friday, October 13, will mark the official start of the 2023-2024 season; starting next week in Ovalle, the Brooks variety will continue to be harvested, while awaiting Santina.
«Next week we will resume the strong harvest, because now it will be a blooming and starting on Monday the harvest will begin with more volume and obviously with the projection of being about 7 and 10 days with the Brooks harvest, because there we give 3, up to 4 passes in the different sectors, precisely trying to get all the fruit that is ready and in that way ensure sending early fruit.", concluded the Production Manager of Agroindustrial Valle Arriba, Jorge Astudillo.
This Friday the harvest of delicacies begins in Ovalle
One of our teams is already in the Ovalle area, in the Coquimbo region, to provide full coverage of what will be the start of the 2023-24 season's cherry harvest. In addition, at 10:00 a.m. this Friday, October 13, Smartcherry will broadcast live from the Tabalí orchard through its official Instagram account, to officially kick off a new cherry season.
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