The generosity of parents can last in us. Regarding the last class in the
Faculty of Agronomy of the University of Chile.
“Mama Cleme” was cutting some branches from her favorite plant, a peony. I was little and I asked her with concern why she did that. With much love and patience, she explained to me in a very simple way that she did it so that the new plant would grow with more and more beautiful flowers again. That had a big impact on me and I decided to keep it as a lesson to put into practice in the future, without knowing until then that my professional life would be linked to agriculture and that I would constantly see how pruning, the same one that “Mama” Cleme did, was a relevant agronomic management of the orchards. How much wisdom!
“Mama Tere” on the other hand, never stopped working and had only a few minutes of her life to share. It was in those few moments that I learned that the intensity, efficiency and effectiveness with which I spend my time is essential to achieve everything in life, especially love. Today I often use efficiency and effectiveness to develop recommendations in every aspect of the agricultural field.
“Dad” made the best milk and coffee and the best scrambled eggs for breakfast. The best days of fishing, touring winding river areas and eating the most delicious “yellow” cheese sandwiches.
Why am I talking about them? Well, none of them are physically on earth today, but they all coincidentally thought that I could dedicate my life to something important. And they were not wrong, because being part of those who contribute a grain of sand to food production is a wonderful thing.
Today I want to share some information that may be useful and that “is not in the books”, such as “Dad’s” recipe, “Mama Tere’s” advice or “Mama Cleme’s” teachings. Here are some of them:
-“Average” time to assist a cherry tree with foliar applications: 1.5 sec/tree.
-Forward speeds: depending on the qualities of the field, the planting distance,
weather conditions and target pest or disease: between 5.5 and 6.5 km/hour.
–The best equipment for applications: Anyone who is in good health with all his components
condition and with periodic maintenance.
–Drone Applications: The labels on products used in the store are not up to date.
fruit production for this form of aerial application. The great challenge for the industry and
future technicians.
–The best nozzles: those that have a manufacturing guarantee. Replace when
wear out (measure their flow rate).
-Recommended water volume for applications: will depend on the stages of development and
not “just lowering application volumes”. We can make winter applications from 500 to 800 L/ha; during flowering and setting from 750 to 1000 L/ha; fruit growth to harvest: from 1000 to 1200 L/ha. Post-harvest: 1000 L/ha. For exceptional cases (scale control, spider mites) we can use from 1500 to 2000 L/ha.
–Human resources: We must always keep our operators and application managers trained; we do not yet have autonomous equipment in our fruit growing industry. This is also a major challenge for the future.
-Dose per concentration or minimum per hectare: the big question and whose answer we should find in the chemical industry that develops its application recommendations (always respect the labels).
Peulla, along with the Smartcherry team, wishes you an extraordinary production and harvest season. Finally, I would like to take advantage of this column to eternally thank my parents for their infinite love.
