Representatives of the Fruit Technology Consortium, the Raspberry Genetic Improvement Program, the Fund for the Promotion of Scientific and Technological Development (FONDEF), The Corporation for the Promotion of Production (Corfo), and the Catholic University of Chile recently held a meeting to publicize the positive results, especially in relation to the evaluation of advanced selections, achieved by the Fruit Technology Consortium's Raspberry Genetic Improvement Program (PMG), which has been carried out thanks to the public contributions of FONDEF IDea.
The Dean of the Faculty of Agronomy and Forest Engineering of the Catholic University, Rodrigo Figueroa, said: "Today we are celebrating the realization of a research program, led by Dr. Marina Gambardella and the Fruit Technological Consortium, that has created three new raspberry varieties: the Santa Teresa, Santa Clara and Santa Catalina varieties. This program also helps consolidate the relationship between the industry and the academy, in addition to providing feedback on our teaching."
Meanwhile, Sergio Maureira, the Manager of the Fruit Technology Consortium, praised the joint work of the academia and the industry, and highlighted the importance of public contributions, such as FONDEF and CORFO, and of the private sector, delivered by the partner companies of the Consortium. Without them, he said, "it would have been impossible to develop the only and first varieties of Chilean raspberries. This achievement must be recognized and highlighted, as it proves that we can work together, so long as there are professionals and adequate funding available."
Andrea Hinojosa, representative of FONDEF, said: "What's really relevant in this type of projects is the knowledge being developed, that we are acquiring working teams, and the contributions to the sector's competitiveness, in this case the fruit sector, that the Genetic improvement programs provides."
Meanwhile, the coordinator of the Raspberry Genetic Improvement Program, Dr Marina Gambardella, said: "We are very proud about what we have achieved, but we also have many challenges. We must continue making progress, for example, in improving our varieties to make them more competitive."
Some of the challenges mentioned by the coordinator include fulfilling the supply of plants that is being generated locally and internationally; protecting the varieties in importing countries, and giving the farmers producing these varieties at the national and international level technical advice. Another challenge, she said, relates to improving the varieties' resistance to diseases, for example.
Gambardella said that Chile was one of the main producers of raspberry in the world, and that, despite having many producers (mainly farmer families) dedicated to its production from Chimbarongo to Los Angeles, the country did not have a variety of its own, which is why they cultivated the Heritage variety, a raspberry created in the United States 35 years ago. "Our varieties have better results than the Heritage variety, especially in yields, calibers, and flavor, and they also better adapt to Chile's growing conditions," she added.
Santa varieties for Chile and the world
According to Dr Gambardella, the varieties are currently being planted in Chile, and there currently are a little more than 100 hectares commercial plantations. Small producers have shown great interest in acquiring these varieties. "These varieties are having very good results in the field. Producers are happy because they are much more productive and have a much larger fruit size which facilitates the harvest." The researcher also said that the Santa Teresa, Santa Catalina, and Santa Clara varieties were being exported to Spain, Portugal, and Australia to be evaluated, and that they would also send them to Mexico soon.
"Exporting our varieties to different countries is unprecedented, as it is the first time that the national fruit growing sector has exported the berry's genetics," she said.
Sergio Maureira said that the success of a variety was measured in time, after being planted in many places, which is the process that they were on. "We need to sell our varieties throughout the whole year to give them a greater commercial momentum, they need to be available all year round. At the local level we are planning to reach, at least initially, between 5 and 10 percent of the raspberry market. At the international level we see very good prospects, because our licensee in Spain, which is assessing the varieties in experimental plantations, projects the planting of 19 hectares of our varieties for the 2017-2018 campaign, given their excellent performances and results," he said.
Source: SimFRUIT