The kiwi harvest has begun, and the Chairman of the Kiwi Committee, Carlos Cruzat, said that they expected this season's export volume would be slightly higher than in the previous season. The export volume is expected to amount to nearly 180,000 tons, i.e. 3% higher than in the previous year.
Cruzat said this campaign would be particularly influenced by characteristics and actions that, if carried out properly by kiwi producers and exporters, could result in a better fruit quality and better results.
The implementation of the new parameters of maturity, and the planning of shipments that takes into account what Italy and other kiwi suppliers in the world plan to store, will be key to this campaign. The sector should also take into account the increases in the production and export from countries like New Zealand, which compete directly with the Chilean product.
"It's particularly important to be clear that advancing harvests and shipments can be a bad decision for the fruit's quality, customer satisfaction, and that it can hurt the Chilean kiwi in general. We must eradicate the habit of rushing the harvest to respond to specific or ephemeral moments in some markets. Today, consumers are requesting a sweet tasting fruit, and that's what we should aim for," the official said.
Regarding the development of the current 2018 campaign, the Chairman of the Committee said that, in general, it had developed normally so far and that there had been no major complications in terms of temperatures and rainfall.
New parameters
Recently the Kiwi Committee established new minimum parameters to ensure the quality of Chilean kiwi, increasing the industry's dry matter average and soluble solids content requirements from 15.5% to 16.0% and from 5.5 ° to 6.2 ° Brix, respectively to guarantee the fruits have the appropriate sweetness and physiological maturity.
Starting this campaign, these parameters are part of the Program for the Assurance of Maturity (PAM) and will be implemented progressively, within two seasons, so that producers can prepare their gardens for later crops.
"Educating producers so that they understand the importance of harvesting with greater Dry Matter and Soluble Solids is vital. It's the only way that we'll be able to reach the markets with the best fruit and get consumers to prefer our product, ensuring they repeat purchases in the future," said the representative of the Committee.
"To prevent producers from harvesting the fruit early, which doesn't meet the minimum parameters of maturity that ensures a kiwi of good quality and flavor, we have defined which communes are currently harvesting the fruit early and are harvesting it in a special way," Cruzat said.
Felipe Espinoza, a kiwi producer, said that, in addition to implementing the parameters, to promote a better quality of fruit they needed to make sure to leave the right fruit at the garden level. If you leave more kilos than you should at an orchard you'll have problems, because that fruit won't have the amount of sugar you need. This is obviously linked to pruning, irrigation, and fertilization, but the most important thing is that producers need to understand they are producing a fruit to be eaten, not to be sold or bought."
Exports
According to the Kiwi Report No. 3 of the Kiwi Committee, up to week 13-2018, Chile has exported 5,918 tons of kiwi, 62% less than in the 2017 season and 19% less than the accumulated in 2016. To date, 73% of the shipments correspond to the Hayward variety, 17% to Summer Kiwi, and the remaining 10% to other varieties, such as the Green Light, Soreli, Sweet Kiwi, and Jintao varieties.
The decrease in volume of fruit exported when compared to 2017, would be due to the implementation of the maturity parameters, a better planning of shipments, and the important advance in crops there was last season because of the high-temperature environmental conditions. This campaign would be developing within the normal ranges.
The calibers of the offer certified by the Committee of the Kiwi and released mostly from early areas of coastal influence are concentrated in the 27 and 30 gauges. They have a good internal quality, evidenced by a high content of dry matter and adequate concentration of soluble solids.
According to the report of the Committee, the supply of other origins, mainly of Italy, predominates in Europe. Italian kiwi volumes are lower than in previous seasons, and have been complemented - especially in Europe - by the fruit from Greece, Spain, and Portugal, which have been increasing their volumes stored, thus delaying the early demand for Chilean fruit.
For more information on the implementation of the new parameters and the Chilean kiwifruit industry, please watch the interview with the Chairman of the Committee on the Agricultural Agenda of CNN Chile.
Source: SimFRUIT