This week, the spotlight is on Chile where we report on two recent ARRA 15 (ARRA Sweeties™) field days organized by Grapasa and Viveros Nueva Vid, that were held at Agricola La Frontera and Agricola Convento Viejo farms.
On February 13th, ARRA producers from region V, region RM and region VI in Chile attended the ARRA 15 field day, held at Agricola La Frontera in Los Andes. The participants were invited to see the ARRA 15 prior to being harvested and to discuss the technical management carried out in the vineyard.
Luis Luraschi welcomed the producers and together with Grapasa agronomist, Luis Arancibia, presented the technical aspects of the variety and the technical protocol applied to the fruit. It was the third commercial harvest and approximately 4,000 cases (8.2 kg) per hectare are expected.
Grapasa agronomist Luis reports, “In this field day we were able to see an excellent example of an ARRA 15 vine over Harmony rootstock and technical management showing all the potential of the variety, achieving a harvest of 4,000 (8.2 kg) boxes per hectare and excellent quality and condition of the grapes. The growers were able to ask technical questions and received detailed answers to achieve this excellent result.”
Agricola Convento Viejo hosted their field day on February 19th. The farm, situated forty kilometres south of Santiago, is in the third year of commercial production of ARRA 15.
Last year, they harvested 4,300 boxes (8.2 kg boxes). This year, increasing the number of boxes per hectare, their target at thinning was to produce 3,500 boxes per hectare, calculating 40 bunches per vine and 70 berries per bunch.
After doing an excellent job during the season and using the Grapasa protocol, the berries grew more than expected and achieving more grams per berry, their total crop was increased.
During the field day, Agricola Convento Viejo owner, Enrique Turri, shared his valuable experiences with cultivating the ARRA 15 over the last three seasons and gave detailed information on the technical and commercial issues.
The field day at Agricola Convento Viejo is one more that Grapasa made during the season, where they showed the different ARRA varieties growing in the regions north to south, where the ARRAs are in commercial production in Chile. Grapasa invited both experienced and new growers to attend field days close to their farms, thereby sharing the same climatic and edaphic conditions.
We would like to thank Luis Luraschi and Enrique Turri for kindly hosting the field days on their farms and for sharing their personal experiences of cultivating ARRA 15 and the amazing results achieved by their dedication and professionalism.
Our warm gratitude to the Grapasa and Nuevavid nursery teams for their time and effort in organizing these successful field days and for sharing their valuable expertise and professional advice.
Where’s the popcorn?
For some great memories of the recent Fruit Logistica Exhibition in Berlin, sit back and enjoy the Grapa film.
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