"Chile: "Iniagrape-one grape exports will triple"

"The grape had a bluish-black color that covers the whole grape berry, without using any color inductor," said Rodriguez. Meanwhile, Dragomir Ljubetic, an agronomist advisor for V & F, said that "the experience of the variety in the past three years has helped producers achieve much higher quality levels. There have been very interesting results from the use of banding techniques to achieve greater sizes and firmness of the grape berries. Using this mechanism could decrease the amount of gibberellic used to increase the fruit's size," he said.

Currently, more than fifty producers have 270 hectares planted with Iniagrape-one grapes in Chile, and expectations are that in 2017 Chilean producers will plant another 100 hectares, corresponding to the first stage of planting in Chile. According to the trends reported by licensed exporters, the main markets for this variety of table grapes are China, the United Kingdom, United States, and different Asian countries, including Korea and Japan. 

Luis Fernandez, general manager of A.N.A Chile, thanked UAC - Del Monte for opening their doors and sharing their productive experience. He also highlighted the work of the National Institute for Agrarian Innovation (INIA), which developed the Iniagrape-one variety, and thanked Biofrutales and Corfo for their ongoing support to the Chilean table grape Breeding Program. 

For more information: