This week we are in Greece, viewing the recent ARRA™ seminar organized by Jupiter Marketing, the exclusive ARRA representative in Greece and we take a look at the ARRA varieties grown in the Kavala region.
Following the successful season of first-year production of ARRA varieties in Kavala, over sixty growers, together with the teams from Grapa and AVI, the ARRA agent in Europe, attended the seminar and season summary. Mark Tweddle, Managing Director of Jupiter Marketing opened the seminar with a presentation on Jupiter activities during 2018 which included massive development of the ARRA varieties around the world, including Greece.
The growers raised the learning curve of the previous season, asking for specific advice and guidance for the coming season. The Grapa and AVI teams expanded the growers’ know-how with the latest updated culture practices to ensure the growers’ performance in the coming season.
AVI’s agronomist, Dott. Maurizio Simone, enriched the growers with his vast experience growing the ARRA varieties in Italy and Spain. As Maurizio is also a specialist in organic growing practices, his philosophy is in line with the growing trend for reduced chemical application.
K-Adriatica gave a great presentation on the relevant foliar products. Tested by the Grapa teams internationally, the foliar products enhanced the ARRA varieties’ performance.
2018 Season of ARRA Varieties in Greece
ARRA 32 (ARRA Mystic Dream™)
Although the growers were advised to be careful with the young, seventeen-month-old vines, unintentionally, the crop reached thirty tonnes per hectare with excellent colour and quality. The rain didn’t bother the beautiful, fresh grapes in late October.
ARRA 19 (ARRA Passion Glow™)
As expected, this variety produced great, crunchy berries and yield, even with no PGR application. The growers let the bunches hang on the vines for almost two months for better maturity and sweetness. In some growers’ fields, the colour was darker than usual due to high potassium levels. Harvested in October, the ARRA 19 showed perfect freshness and vitality in spite of the rain.
ARRA 15 (ARRA Sweeties™)
Grown for the first time in Kavala, although this variety ripened slightly earlier than expected as it wasn’t treated with PGR, we were delighted with its clean, sweet grapes, incredible bunch shape and berry size.
ARRA 28 (ARRA Passion Punch™)
The bunches were kept on the vine until the end of October. In spite of the young vine age of seventeen months, this variety had great flavour and freshness. The Kavala microclimate enhanced the colour beyond our expectations and most of the crop was unharmed by the rains.
We’re very grateful to Mark Tweddle and the Jupiter team, especially to Dimitris Theodorou, for their time and great efforts in organizing such a successful seminar. Many thanks to Maurizio for generously giving his time and expertise and of course to all the ARRA growers who participated in the seminar for their continued support of the ARRA programme in Greece.
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