The Greek season for sweet cherries seems very promising due great weather conditions. Agronomist Aris Konstantinidis of the Greek nursery Vitro Hellas is expecting strong production volumes this summer.
“The pollination process went well. The results were checked by Dr. Marco Bertolazzi from the University of Bologna, who has been in charge of the sweet cherry program,” explains Konstantinidis. For the last couple of years, Vitro Hellas has been involved in a development program for sweet cherry varieties. Along with thirteen other companies spread out over the globe, it is one of the few nurseries with exclusive rights to grow these new varieties.
“The new sweet cherry varieties have excellent characteristics. They have great taste, a big size and are more resistant to cracking,” explains Konstantinidis. He hopes it won’t rain before the harvest season. Intense rainfall can adversely affect the quality of the cherries, such as forcing the fruit to crack. The agricultural sector of Greece suffered heavy losses due to bad weather conditions during the last winter. While cherry production in Greece reached a volume of 80,000 tons during 2015, the yield of 2016 had been decreased by a staggering 50%. However, with regards to the coming season Vitro Hellas has a more positive outlook. "We will have good results this year, as we’ve been having great weather since winter,” says Konstantinidis.
Vitro Hellas offers 7 varieties of sweet cherries for the market. These varieties are Sweet Aryanna, Sweet Gabriel, Sweet Saretta, Sweet Lorenz, Sweet Vallina, and Sweet Stephany. Vitro Hellas aims to market its produce all over Europe, ranging from the UK to countries in Eastern Europe.
At present, the main growing areas for cherries are located in Greece, in regions like Veria, Thessalia, Ptolemaida and Lamia. Vitro Hellas plans to expand to regions in the Balkan, like Bulgaria and Romania. However, Vitro Hellas’ most ambitious plans have to do with Russia.
In spite of the Russian import ban, Vitro Hellas tries to reach out to the Russian market through a Russian shareholder. According to Konstantinidis, the company is going to produce and market apple trres in Russia in the following 8 years. If these plans turn out to be a success, the company will commence with a program for sweet cherries.
”The Russian market used to import everything,” says Konstantinidis. “There is no Russian fruit cultivation to speak of, even though there are thousands of hectares available that are suitable for growing produce. It won’t be easy to tap into that potential, but I’m convinced we’ll find a way,” concludes Konstantinidis.
For more information:
Aris Konstantinidis
Vitro Hellas (Greece)
Tel: +30 2333027281
Cell: +30 6972669534
Email: konstantinidis@vitrohellas.gr
www.vitrohellas.gr
“The pollination process went well. The results were checked by Dr. Marco Bertolazzi from the University of Bologna, who has been in charge of the sweet cherry program,” explains Konstantinidis. For the last couple of years, Vitro Hellas has been involved in a development program for sweet cherry varieties. Along with thirteen other companies spread out over the globe, it is one of the few nurseries with exclusive rights to grow these new varieties.
“The new sweet cherry varieties have excellent characteristics. They have great taste, a big size and are more resistant to cracking,” explains Konstantinidis. He hopes it won’t rain before the harvest season. Intense rainfall can adversely affect the quality of the cherries, such as forcing the fruit to crack. The agricultural sector of Greece suffered heavy losses due to bad weather conditions during the last winter. While cherry production in Greece reached a volume of 80,000 tons during 2015, the yield of 2016 had been decreased by a staggering 50%. However, with regards to the coming season Vitro Hellas has a more positive outlook. "We will have good results this year, as we’ve been having great weather since winter,” says Konstantinidis.
Vitro Hellas offers 7 varieties of sweet cherries for the market. These varieties are Sweet Aryanna, Sweet Gabriel, Sweet Saretta, Sweet Lorenz, Sweet Vallina, and Sweet Stephany. Vitro Hellas aims to market its produce all over Europe, ranging from the UK to countries in Eastern Europe.
At present, the main growing areas for cherries are located in Greece, in regions like Veria, Thessalia, Ptolemaida and Lamia. Vitro Hellas plans to expand to regions in the Balkan, like Bulgaria and Romania. However, Vitro Hellas’ most ambitious plans have to do with Russia.
In spite of the Russian import ban, Vitro Hellas tries to reach out to the Russian market through a Russian shareholder. According to Konstantinidis, the company is going to produce and market apple trres in Russia in the following 8 years. If these plans turn out to be a success, the company will commence with a program for sweet cherries.
”The Russian market used to import everything,” says Konstantinidis. “There is no Russian fruit cultivation to speak of, even though there are thousands of hectares available that are suitable for growing produce. It won’t be easy to tap into that potential, but I’m convinced we’ll find a way,” concludes Konstantinidis.
For more information:
Aris Konstantinidis
Vitro Hellas (Greece)
Tel: +30 2333027281
Cell: +30 6972669534
Email: konstantinidis@vitrohellas.gr
www.vitrohellas.gr