Sweet series variety of cherries, which was conducted by the University of Bologna in Italy. According to agronomist Aris Konstantinidis of Vitro Hellas, the new cherry has excellent characteristics. “It has a great taste and size. It’s also more resistant to cracking. Our company got the exclusive rights to grow this variety about three years ago as the first of only thirteen companies in the world. We’ll be focusing on the Sweet variety for many years to come.”
Vitro Hellas felt honored to be involved with the development of the Sweet variety. However, since all development took place in Italy, there were some additional challenges for the Greek company.
“We had to evaluate all data that was acquired during this project. We had to see if growing this type of cherry would also work in Greek soil and under Greek weather conditions. We took quite a risk with this. As part of a field test, we planted the Sweet cherry in different growing areas in Greece so we could see which type of soil worked best for this variety. However, the results have been great. We’re really positive about the future of the Sweet series in Greece.” So, these varieties are the following: Sweet Aryanna, Sweet Lorenz, Sweet Gabriel, Sweet Vallina, Sweet Saretta, Sweet Stephany.
The development of the Sweet cherry is still in progress. “Apart from growing this variety, we’ve also been convincing and educating growers about the Sweet cherry. It has taken us about three years to get where we are now. This is the first year that the Sweet cherry is available on the domestic market. We also have plans to export this variety to Bulgaria, Romania and Russia.
Bulgaria and Romania in general are quite accepting of trying out new varieties. Growers from the Balkan were very quick to adopt other new cherry varieties in the past, like the Star series. Russia on the other hand is a bit behind in developing its growing sectors, but I believe that with our help they will succeed great things in the future. But since the Russian market is huge, there is still a lot of potential there.”
The main cherry variety of Greece is the Burlat, but the last ten years has seen an emergence of newer varieties like Sweet, but also types like the Star series. “Greek growers like to try out new things. Unfortunately, this has also lead to illegal nurseries. Illegal companies get hold of exclusive varieties and sell these to growers. It’s not easy to fight this. In order to act against this, we need to take these companies to court. We currently have five cases in a court of law. We won one such case last winter. This isn’t so much as a Greek problem, but rather something that has influence all over Europe.”
The main growing areas for cherries in Greece are in the north in the region around Veria, in central Greece around Thessalia and close to Athens in the vicinity of Lamia. The number of cherry growers is increasing. “Cherries are interesting for Greek growers. The harvest time is quite short, which leaves room for the production of other types of fruit like apricots and apples. Also the prices for cherries are very good,” explains Aris.
Like other European countries, Greek agriculture has been suffering from the adverse weather conditions of the winter. “The cherry volumes of last year amounted to 80,000 tons, but this year is probably going to be more than 50% less. Fortunately, our quality is still the best. I just hope that this year is over as soon as possible and that next year will be better. Agriculture plays a crucial role for the Greek economy, which especially now, could use some help,” added Aris.
For more information:
Aris Konstantinidis
VITRO HELLAS S.A
Tel: +30 2333027281
Cell: +30 6972669534
Email: [email protected]
www.vitrohellas.gr
Author: Yzza Ibrahim / Peter Duivenvoorde