Kiwifruit from Chile arrives at BioTropic

The San Roque Farms is a family business since 1979. In the mid-eighties the first organic kiwis were planted and exported – in the time of Ignacio's father. Today the kiwi plantation is about 13 hectares. Ignacio also cultivates green asparagus, blueberries and raspberries, all organic. He also keeps his own cattle so he can produce his own compost. More than 500 metric tons of this valuable compost is produced annually. 

The kiwi variety Hayward is grown at San Roque Farms - a large, aromatic fruit, that is currently the world's most important commercial variety. The Hayward kiwi is dioecious, with both male and female plants. The flowers from the male plants delivers the pollen for pollination.

The wild kiwi originally came from China around 100 years ago. Seeds were brought over to New Zealand, where the kiwi was cultivated in their now-famous form. New Zealand is, alongside Italy, the dominant producing country for these exotic fruits. At the same time, kiwis are also cultivated in other countries with subtropical/temperate climates, such as in Chile. Organic kiwis are only imported from overseas when European kiwis are unavailable, i.e. from about mid-May to November. As always, the egg shaped fruit is a small vitamin bomb and rich in minerals, such as iron and magnesium.

Joep van Koevorden and Ronald Vianen from BioTropic plan on traveling to Chile next November to visit Ignacio's San Roque Farms.

Text: Visnja Malesic