The Director of the INDAP, Carlos Recondo, together with a group of advisors, analyzed, along with representatives of ASOEX, the possibilities that three new varieties of raspberries, the Santa Teresa, Santa Clara, and Santa Catalina, offer small producers from Chile, and especially from La Araucania.
"Las Santas", as these first Chilean raspberry varieties are also known, are very productive, yield a great caliber, and have a sweet flavor. They were developed by the ASOEX Fruit Technology Consortium together with the Catholic University of Chile.
"I appreciate this invitation, which has been very useful for this new administration, because it has allowed us to better know ASOEX and everything they do. We have also been able to know the work they are doing through the Fruit Technology Consortium, especially regarding the development of three new raspberry varieties. It’s a very attractive project that they could carry out with the INDAP to support small producers, as this crop adapts very well to the reality of peasant family agriculture and has a very positive profitability," said the Director of INDAP, Carlos Recondo.
He also highlighted that there was a very good possibility they would support a pilot plan with these varieties. "We have learned about a very interesting project that ASOEX and the Consortium have for La Araucanía. This region has a high priority for the INDAP because it has a lot of rural poverty and needs more development. So we find this type of initiatives are very interesting and we’ll give our support and collaboration so that this type of projects become a reality to favor family farming in La Araucania. We believe that allowing our small farmers to work with these raspberries, can be a very good pilot plan for La Araucania."
“We decided to present the work we are doing, through the Fruit Technology Consortium,in order to support the conversion of small producers, especially in La Araucania,” Ronald Bown, the President of ASOEX, stated.
Brown added that the Consortium had conducted a study to determine the potential that these raspberry varieties offered small farmers so as to define a pilot plan.
It should be noted that this study was conducted within the framework of the Goodberry project of the European Union, led by Dr. Marina Gambardella, which established a raspberry varietal trial in the Chol Chol commune of the Araucania Region. The objective was to evaluate the production of these fruits under two growing conditions, in the open air and in tunnels, to discover their potential for small producers.
According to the results of the research, the Santas cultivars present a high productivity throughout the season, with two marked blooms, very good calibers, color, and sweet flavor.
According to the International Raspberry Organization (IRO), the world-wide production of this fruit has increased by 14,3% between the year 2012 and 2016. This shows that, besides increasing consumption, the countries with more surface devoted to this crop have also strengthened their productive programs.
Chile is the fifth biggest producer of raspberries in the world, with an average of 36 thousand tons per season.