This week, our focus is on Chile, where we update on Jupiter Group’s ARRA programme and report on Grapa team’s attendance at last week’s 9th International Table Grape Symposium in Santiago.
Jupiter Group has been producing ARRA™ varieties in Chile since 2016, with growing success. Unfortunately, the extreme drought conditions that Chile is experiencing has resulted in a loss for the Jupiter Group of twelve hectares, in the Chacabuco region, of ARRA Sweeties™ (ARRA 15) planted in 2016, and ARRA Passion Fire™ (ARRA 29) planted in 2018. Fortunately, the Jupiter programme is also producing ARRA varieties in the Valparaiso region, in Llay Llay on the farm, Agricola e Inversiones Firenze, where they have ARRA Sweeties, planted in 2016, on Harmony rootstock.
Agricola e Inversiones Firenze have produced a beautiful harvest of ARRA Sweeties (ARRA 15) this season. Cristian Bustos, agronomist and farm manager of Jupiter Group’s ARRA programme in Chile, reports that the quality has met all expectations, with full bunches, large, clean berries and excellent Brix levels, resulting in a perfect sugar-acid balance.
The Jupiter Group is very happy with the production and exportation of the ARRA Sweeties (ARRA 15) from Chile. As Cristian (pictured) relates, «ARRA Sweeties, in my opinion, is a fantastic variety in terms of production and high fertility. In addition, this variety’s natural thinning after flowering is a big advantage to the growers in terms of reduced manual labour and fewer chemical applications.»
Taking place every four years, the International Table Grape Symposium (ITGS) provides a platform for the international community of table grape growers, traders and professionals to share and discuss technical, scientific and economic advances in table grape production. This year the ITGS was held in Santiago in Chile, where Grapa was one of the sponsors of the event, and the Grapa team (Shachar and Grapa Project Manager, Erika Rossi) was there; not just attending the lectures but meeting up with the ARRA growers, agronomists and the worldwide ARRA technical team
During the visit, the participants of the symposium visited Agricola Convento Viejo Farm in the Metropolitan region, where owner, Enrique Turri Clark led the group on a tour of the ARRA Sweeties (ARRA 15) vineyards. The group also had the chance to taste ARRA Passion Fire (ARRA 29) and ARRA Sugar Drop (ARRA 30) from cold storage.
Thank you!
We would like to take this opportunity to say a big thank you to Enrique for generously hosting us during the field visit and to the Nueva Vid and Grapasa teams for their continued support and devotion to the ARRA programme in Chile.
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