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INIA promotes the development of new cherry varieties in Chile Chico

Three decades after the Institute of Agricultural Research, through the Regional Centre INIA Tamel Aike, promoted the establishment of fruit orchards in Chile Chico, this commune of the General Carrera lake basin grows five cherry varieties to market in the country and abroad.

Source: INIA

"Since this region's harvest season takes place in January, it was the only supplier of fresh fruit. That's why in 1998, with the support of a Regional Government project, the first 40 commercial hectares of cherry trees were established by small producers from the towns of Bahía Jara, Chile Chico, and Puerto Ingeniero Ibáñez," stated Diego Arribillaga García, agronomist at INIA Tamel Aike.

Today, the region has 244 hectares of cherry trees (INE 2022) in the Chile Chico Valley.

"We arrived with the product at a key moment for Europe and the United States, the main markets at the time," stated Esteban Milovic, of Agrícola Chile Chico Cherry Limitada, one of the entrepreneurs who bet on this sector.

Chile has established itself as the world's leading exporter of cherries and expects to sell 131,587,007 boxes abroad for the 2024-2025 season, according to Frutas de Chile's Cherry Committee. This is nearly 59% more than in the previous season.

In this context, the regional production's challenge is to stand out in the international market because of their quality, as having a late production is no longer a differentiating factor.

According to Diego Arribillaga, "between 2002 and 2003, through a project financed by FIA, INIA introduced the Kordia variety. It gave excellent results, with a very good caliber, and today it has positioned itself in the market."

Javier Cereceda, from Agrícola Austral Cherry, agrees on the importance of generating a competitive advantage. "Producing Kordia in the central valley of Chile is more difficult because the number of cold hours during winter is lower than what the variety requires. Here, however, it can be produced as a main variety, which allows us to offer the market a cherry that is in demand, wanted, and recognized."

The challenge is to achieve this differentiation with Kordia and new varieties, Milovic stressed. "That is the challenge now. The rules of the game have changed so after so many years producing cherry we must now produce great quality fruit that is recognized worldwide to maintain our position as cherry producers."

That's why the sector needs to continue researching new varieties that can deepen the differentiating characteristics of a niche cherry production. Since 2022, INIA has developed a line of research focused on evaluating four new varieties of cherries recently introduced in Chile: Areko, Pisue 177, Sweet Stephany, and Sweet Saretta.

For more information:
INIA
www.inia.cl

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