In order to promote the dissemination and exchange of know-how, the Protected Plant Varieties Company (CVVP), which manages this variety and other protected species (such as Nadorcott and Leanri mandarins and Summer Prim lemons), has organised a meeting of M7 producers with technicians experienced in their cultivation, as well as visits to farms in production located in the Guadalquivir Valley and Valencia.
This is a very effective practice which should undoubtedly extend to other varieties and crops; provided there are problems that are more or less widespread and which can be approached or treated in different manners; because only when aware of everything others are doing (or not doing) does it become easy to identify mistakes and to really learn how to do things properly.
Carlos Mesejo, a professor at the Agroforestry Institute of the Polytechnic University of Valencia, and Camilo Garcés, a citrus technician and producer of M7 oranges, focused on the main problems suffered by the growers of this variety of Australian origin, like fruit cracking, peel defects caused by the wind or calibre deficiencies.
Professor Mesejo warned that "no variety comes with an instruction book, so there must be a process of natural acclimatization, which takes time and in which producers must also try to find the best methods."
All those present agreed that the M7 is an orange of enormous interest, not only because of the good commercial prospects of an exclusive, patented variety with a limited production volume (only 2,000 hectares authorised in Spain), but also because of its great organoleptic quality. "It is a premium orange," stated one of the growers, which definitely helps it stand out in the market. It is characterised by its firmness, great flavour and the pulp's texture.
Source: lasprovincias.es
