Paola Barba and Monica Madariaga, researchers at INIA La Platina, represented the institute at Fruittrade, Chile's largest fruit and vegetable event, which was also attended by the national director, Pedro Bustos.
“We're very happy to be attending the 2021 version of one of the most important meetings of the agri-food sector in the country. Having a face-to-face meeting and being able to interact with the different actors with whom we have collaborated in various research and innovation projects has been wonderful,” stated Pedro Bustos during the event that was held in person at CasaPiedra.
In the presentation 'Genetic improvement of table grapes: What is there and what can we expect?', Dr. Barba indicated that there is a strong tendency to change varieties in Chile and the world, with a significant presence of private improvement programs of the United States, according to export statistics and the registry of protected varieties of the Agricultural and Livestock Service (SAG).
In this context, the specialist highlighted the merit of the public-private work led by INIA with the Biofrutales Consortium in Chile, which has three export varieties and has managed to position the Maylen® variety among the 30 most exported varieties in the country.
“Our program focuses on satisfying the demands of Chilean producers. Our varieties stand out because they have a good postharvest. This characteristic allows the Maylen® fruit to be exported mainly to the Far East. In addition, the commercial development of the product led by ANA Chile has made it possible to reach 15 countries, not only with fruit but also with plants,” she added.
Regarding the latest developments, Paola Barba presented INIA-G3, a new seedless Moscatel variety that has an attractive pink color, excellent productivity, and postharvest. This variety, which has already been registered in the SAG and is in the process of being patented in the USA and was highly valued by those attending the field days held in the previous season.
Dr. Madariaga spoke about the sustained increase there's been in the surface area of stone fruit during the last 10 years, mainly of cherries, a fruit with high demand, in her presentation 'Viruses that affect stone fruit crops. How to identify them, treat them, and avoid them.' “The growth of this industry must be sustainable over time and be careful with the factors that can affect it, such as virus diseases. When an orchard is infected we harvest lower quality fruit, the yields and productive life span of the crops decrease, and there are even sanitary barriers that prevent moving plant material infected with viruses,” she said. "Viruses can't be controlled with chemicals, unlike fungi and bacteria, the only way to control them is through cultural methods, thus establishing healthy plant material is essential," she stated.
Source: radioagricultura.cl