Table grape trellis that helps reduce workforce

Based on the survey's results, the study's technical team concluded that producers are not choosing these new systems because of their productivity, but rather because they make the carrying out of their tasks much easier. This study evaluated the advantages of open gable systems in all tasks, from pruning to harvest, and it was observed that with this system "the work becomes much more efficient, as the fruit is presented to the worker at a height from forehead to waist, regardless of how tall or short the person is. That results in the labourer getting less tired, since the activity is less physically demanding and he or she won't need to use stairs."

Another of the advantages of this new system, besides facilitating the work, is that it makes it possible to have more plants per hectare. Producers also observed less rot because of the system's better ventilation.

Arturo Campos, an economist and researcher at INIA, made an analysis of the return on investment, considering the investment costs in Spanish parron and open gable systems. He noted that although "there was a high variability in the investments, it tended to be greater in the case of the Spanish parron, since it requires a higher number of plants per hectare, as well as more crossbars and wire."

In the study, Campos detected a reduction of direct costs per hectare with the open gable system when compared to the Spanish parron in the fields of labour and agrochemicals.

Carolina Cruz, president of Uvanova and adviser, said that the alternative open gable system makes it possible to handle a high density of plants per hectare with orchards of greater precocity. It also requires less specialised labour, reducing the rate of accidents at work, results in fewer plant diseases and allows for a better performance when it comes to tasks like pruning and the arrangement of clusters. "It was a necessary study, since it has helped us learn about the benefits and difficulties entailed in the use of alternative systems to the Spanish parron in order to set the appropriate standards," he pointed out.

The goal of table grape trellis systems, in general, is to maximise production, facilitate the labourers' tasks, allow applications, properly distribute the fruit, ensure good ventilation and allow the plant to grow erect and not on the ground, as it would naturally do.

This new trellis system has been developed to respond to the new trends in table grape cultivation, which require greater productivity and quality and lower production costs.