The Grapa team is back on the road! In this edition of the Newsletter we take our readers to the ARRA varieties produced in India. Moreover, we are pleased to share with you photos directly from the farms of our Chilean licensees where the harvest is still ongoing.
Uzi Yaron, Grapa R&D Director and Andre Vermaak ARRA Agronomist, travelled to Nashik, India, to pay a visit to the many ARRA Variety producers in the region.
Uzi and Andre had the opportunity to share their deep knowledge of the varieties with the growers. Everyone was most welcoming and hospitable as can be seen in the photos below.
The ARRA producers in India are certainly not new to the production of table grapes as they have been familiar with Thompson for a long time. Their enthusiasm and commitment, season after season, in learning how to produce excellent ARRA varieties is generating good results.
Uzi reports about the visit: «After 2 years of not being able to travel to India, as soon as the sky opened, we were ready to fly. We arrived between the end of the first harvest cycle and the beginning of the second».
Uzi continues: «The growers in India are enjoying the advantages that ARRA Sweeties™ brings them. As this variety is rain resistant, it allows the producers to harvest without any problem even after the rain. ARRA Sweeties is certainly more profitable for the Indian producers compared to Thompson which our partners at Sahyadri Farms are in the process of replacing».
Sahyadri Farms’ test block holds one of the most promising early mid varieties which is showing great adaptability to the local environment. Uzi says: «We have no doubts that this early-mid selection will be a winner in India and commercial planting will start next season. Its fire red color, crispness along with the amazing taste and eating quality will make it a sought after variety in the market».
Uzi concludes: «We met very professional growers, full of motivations and eagerness to listen and learn about the new varieties. We look forward to coming back soon and hope to visit more frequently to see the great developments of this new era from Sahyadri farms.
The strong co-operation between the Jupiter Group, Grapa Varieties and the local Indian team of Sahyadri Farms lead by Mr. Sachin Walunj is making the ARRA program in India a success. The production in India is showing good adaptability results season after season.
In Chile the harvest is still ongoing and we are pleased to share with you some pictures and quotes from growers of the Southern area of the country.
Agricola Del Solar Ltda
ARRA Mystic Dream™, has the great advantage of being rain tolerant as well as having lower production costs. In addition, this variety can sustain long shipments, making it a great export choice to the Asian market.
ARRA Mystic Dream had its first year of production at Agricola Del Solar. The Grapasa team, territorial representative for the ARRA™ varieties in South America, visited the farm where the berries were crispy and boasted a beautiful uniform deep black color. Agricola Del Solar is between the very first and loyal producers of ARRA in Chile, cultivating the varieties since 2016. In addition to ARRA Mystic Dream they produced beautiful ARRA Sweeties™.
Soc. Agricla La Islita Ltda.
«Extraordinary», this is what Mr. Carlos Seemann Cox, Director of Soc. Agricla La Islita Ltda. says about this season’s ARRA Sweeties™ crop. The harvest started a few days ago and the farm is busy picking and packing this great variety.
Sergio Correa Ossa – Novagrapes Group
Mr. Sergio Correa Ossa has been growing ARRA Sweeties since 2017 and reports: «ARRA Sweeties is a very fertile variety and the bunches are simple to manage. I am satisfied and increasing my plantation this year». There is no bigger satisfaction for us than a happy grower increasing his hectarage.
IAPB San Felipe Valley
Gonzalo Leon, General Manager at IAPB San Felipe Valley, reported: «This is our 6th harvest of ARRA Sweeties and we had, once again, excellent results. This is a friendly variety to produce and requested by the market».
Soc. Exp Y Servicios Ag Gonpiza
Mr. Nelson Gonzalez, Owner of Agricola Gonpiza is proud of this season’s ARRA Sweeties harvest in his farm and the pictures below speak for themselves.
We are very pleased to see the good results of this year’s ARRA Sweeties™ and ARRA Mystic Dream™. We thank our licensees for sharing beautiful pictures with us and hope that you continue as your pride is our pride.
ARRA Honey Pop™ is becoming well recognized for its impressive characteristics: earliness, crispness, flavor, good rachis, and very good post-harvest performances.
Back in December, we showcased the first commercial harvest of ARRA Honey Pop™ from South Africa and we were delighted to report that this first shipment arrived in Germany, after a long 45 days of traveling by sea. The feedback from the importing company was excellent: after 45 days the berries were firm and crispy, the grapes tasted very good, the color was a clean, light green and the brix levels were optimal.
Today we bring you the latest development of ARRA Honey Pop from the Northern Hemisphere. The footage below was taken on February 22nd in Moshav Lachish (Israel) where bud break reached almost 100% under green house.
Click on the video to listen Uzi talking about the growing stages of ARRA Honey Pop
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