On a weekly basis, Avium's technical team prepared Phenological Reports by area and variety, making this relevant material available to the industry through our platform.
For 18 weeks this year, Avium's technical team, headed by its Director Carlos Tapia, a specialist advisor in cherry cultivation, prepared a complete report with the phenological states of cherries between the O'Higgins and Los Lagos regions, covering the varieties Royal Dawn, Santina, Lapins, Kordia Sweetheart and Regina. Through photographs it was possible to follow the seasonal development in Rancagua, Rengo, San Fernando, Curicó, Talca, Chillán and Osorno.
“Why is it important to closely monitor cherry phenology? Well, because the application of products, in addition to other spraying and, mainly, the cultural management of an orchard must be carried out at certain times and within very limited time frames. It is essential to observe and record certain stages of crop development in order to make decisions, compare with previous years, plan, etc.” said Carlos Tapia, Technical Director of Avium.
The reports also included 10ºC base degree days, evapotranspiration indicators and work planning by week of the year.
“Each report, sent to our producers on Fridays and uploaded to the Smartcherry platform on Mondays for download, included a brief editorial related to what was happening in the week corresponding to the report, technical recommendations, relevant industry information and, in addition, the accumulation of evapotranspiration for the week, the season and the accumulation of base degree days 10ºC. This information allows, for example, to establish the accumulated thermal sum between phenological events and to achieve an estimate of their occurrence dates, according to the different agroclimatic zones,” Tapia explained.
The content of the weekly phenological reports, which ran from August 13 to December 14 of this year, constituted valuable material for the industry, since in addition to what was previously described, the information compiled here allows for comparisons between different seasons, having the possibility of understanding the differential occurrence and duration of each phenological event, taking into account agroclimatic and geographical factors.
“Having accurate information about the seasonal cycle of the cherry tree also allows us to diagnose, for example, alterations associated with physiological problems caused by handling or applications,” added Carlos Tapia, who also highlighted the excellent reception that this project had in the cherry industry.
“There were many producers and people related to the cherry industry who highlighted our initiative and thanked the contribution that our Phenological Reports meant week after week, just as it happens in winter with our Evolution and Comparative Reports of the Accumulation of Chilling Hours that we have been carrying out for several seasons and making available to the industry through Smartcherry. During the next year we will continue with both projects and we are already working on other proposals that will be a contribution for all those who require technical and quality information,” concluded Advisor Carlos Tapia.
Below you can download for free the compilation of the 18 phenological reports for the 2021-22 season, prepared by the Avium technical team.
