"We are waiting for the technicians to give us the go-ahead but, based on the dry matter content and Brix level of our G3 Zespri golden kiwis, I believe harvesting is about to start," explained Antonio Medri, owner of a company located in Riolo Terme (Ravenna), during a technical visit on October 4th, 2019.
Left to right: Antonio Medri (producer), Andrea Grassi and Claudio Rossi di Agrimix
Over thirty technicians and producers attended the event organized by Agrimix, during which the agronomic management of orchards was illustrated.
"This variety saved my life as, in 2013, I had to uproot all my Hayward green kiwifruit orchards due to bacteriosis. Now I have a good production in terms of both quantity and quality once again."
Antonio Medri has been growing kiwifruit since 1981
Medri envisages to harvest around 40 tons per hectare. Production was been lower last year, but it is indeed a very young orchard that is only gradually becoming fully productive. "The 2018 harvest was paid on average €1.10/kg and I consider it an excellent price. Of course quality needs to be excellent and everything is monitored down to the tiniest detail. It is expensive, but profit is good."
Pollination is a very delicate phase. Medri uses the Tabanelli technique, which envisages three interventions (150 gram per intervention) with a pollinator every 5 trees. This way, the producer can obtain a good setting which, in 2019, occurred despite the abnormal weather in late spring.
"The temperature range varied quite a lot over the past few days which is positive, as it leads to higher Brix levels."
A few fruits developed: one was average and weighed 110 grams, while the other was 'extra-large' at 175 grams.
Agrimix organized the event to illustrate the effects of its treatment protocol. The company has been on the market for 45 years and has recently introduced zero-residue products that can be used in organic crops.
"The PSA bacteria hit hard around here, this is why we offered Medri a protocol to save a few rows of plants that were suffering a lot," explained Agrimix technician Andrea Grassi.
Andrea Grassi
"They were actually almost dead and I was about to cut them down. Then I used a systemic copper and chitosan mix with three interventions performed during in the summer. Trees have now recovered and will actually produce some fruit."
The trees that were about to be cut down
Another protocol concerns fruit grade and uniformity. "Our technical tools are at the disposal of producers to try to improve yields and quality. We work with research centers and bodies that help us during field tests to obtain data that can be compared scientifically," concluded Agrimix sales director Claudio Rossi.