With more than 10 years supporting the national fruit industry through specialized services and applied research, Diagnofruit, a leading research and services company in the fruit industry, is launching its training period for post-harvest technical teams. The event seeks to install knowledge on the main pathogens that cause rot in export cherries, with the aim of helping in decision-making for batch segregation and accurately reporting the various problems to producers, in order to generate specific corrective measures and ensure sustainable production.
R&D+i+e contains the four founding pillars of Diagnofruit: Research, Development, Innovation and Outreach, and the fourth of these axes is the cradle of the training service for the recognition of diseases in cherries. More than 6 years of studies in various lines of cherry production, in pre and post-harvest, have generated a wealth of local knowledge that allows us to respond to most of the unknowns that arise when detecting problems of rot in the packing, such as:
What causes rot?
how is it controlled?
Can healthy fruit be contagious?
Will it be a problem at the destination?
How to attack pre-harvest?
Aim
To answer these questions, we have designed an express training program, the objective of which is to transfer the knowledge acquired during these years of study so that the industry can best resolve the challenges that each season poses to us.
Format
The training includes 3 classes, one theoretical and two practical. The theoretical class concentrates information on the main pathogens that cause rot in our cherries, pre- and post-harvest management that aims to mitigate their effects. The first practical class is with macro and microscopy, and the idea is to learn the main characteristics of filamentous fungi such as Botrytis, Alternaria, Cladosporium, Penicillium, Monilinia, and yeast-like ones such as Geotrichum, among others.
The third class will be held in the middle of the season; the idea is to classify the different types of rot with fruit in hand and put into practice all the knowledge learned in the previous activities.
The classes will be in-situThis means that the Diagnofruit team moves to the packing plant, which allows for a more fluid interaction with the client's technical teams, also observing each particular reality. There is no maximum number of attendees per session; however, an appropriate number should be considered according to the facilities to be used.
Theoretical classes can be booked from the last week of September and throughout October, and the final practice in November. Due to the intense and short season, reservations to purchase the training will be limited, in order to ensure an adequate transfer of knowledge.
