Strawberry planting work in the greenhouses of the Ilia and Achaia regions has been completed this year with minimal problems, leaving producers relieved, as in previous years, they were often forced to carry out extensive replanting around this time.
"While in the past two years, strawberry growers saw up to 20% of their plants lost due to adverse weather conditions, this year we had only half as many losses, and those occurred only in the plants that were transplanted during the last few days. The losses affected both bare-root and plug plants of all varieties, with no particular variety standing out negatively. When a plant is transplanted, it needs stable, cool temperatures for about a month. This time, at the end of October, we had warm weather, 25 degrees Celsius, with temperatures inside the greenhouses reaching up to 30 degrees, so we had to do some minor replanting," says Mr. Odysseas Kyriazis from the company Kiriazis Fruits.
© Fotis Karabetsos | FreshPlaza.com
"I think that this year there was again an increase in production acreage—perhaps, cautiously estimating, by about 100 to 200 hectares," the Greek producer notes. Growers, as always, focused most of their plantings on Victory plants, while they also planted a good number of Arwen. Fortuna is still present this year, but it has declined further and now represents only a small minority.
Kiriazis Fruits has already started harvesting its strawberries for about two weeks now. As Mr. Kyriazis explains: "Our company is already present in foreign markets, both with our own strawberries and with other strawberries from Kalavryta. Demand is good. Overall, production will keep increasing slightly every week. We still have a long way to go, and it's too early to say exactly when the tonnage will rise significantly. The weather will be a determining factor. So far, everything is favorable for the development of the crop."
Finally, regarding cultivation trends in Greece, he adds: "I believe we are following the movements of the Spanish growers on this matter, though with a delay of one or two years. I think strawberry cultivation is shifting toward earlier plantings, and this trend will become even stronger in the coming years."
For more information:
Odysseas Kiriazis
Kiriazis Fruits
Tel: +30 269 303 1121
Email: [email protected]
