Pilar Bañados and varietal replacement: "Grafting is a very good option for southern Chile"

“A year of production is lost, but the following year, if the work is done well, it can be re-produced, not at the same previous levels, but by the second year the previous levels can be recovered and with a new variety, improving the quality of the fruit ”

The agronomist and berry specialist, Pilar Bañado, says that “to recover competitiveness in the world blueberry industry, we Chileans have to reinvent ourselves, we cannot continue to look at this crop and the business with the same eyes we looked at before”, and underlines the Chilean advantages over temperate climate production, which allows for concentration of production.

According to experts, Chilean fruit has superior flavor conditions, so Chile can compete, "but we have to worry and take care to produce better fruit quality," Bañado said.

It is a reality that varietal turnover in some areas of Chile is happening, but at a slow pace. "In southern Chile still very slow, because the producer may think that 'this is only a small threat, that this will change' ... and we continue playing the violin as in the Titanic," he warns.

In this perspective, given the question about the advantages of grafting as an alternative management, he thinks it is a very good option for varietal replacement in southern Chile.

The berry expert and R&D Manager for Blueberry Genetic Programs at Hortifrut and a UC academic, explains that, if good feet are taken care of, in plantations that are in good root condition, instead of being forced to uproot them, grafting is a very good alternative. “For the south of Chile, mainly I see it as a good option, for the north not so much because the speed of growth of the flats is greater, but in the south there are good orchards, which are not attacked by pests of burritos or kids . One year of production is lost, but the following year, if the work is done well, one returns to produce, not at the same previous levels, but at the second year the optimum levels are recovered and with a new variety and therefore with better fruit quality ”He says.

One aspect that is important to mention when talking about grafting is what varieties to change with. When it is made with free varieties, such as Duke for example, there is no problem. When, instead, the possibility of grafting with protected varieties, affecting the payment of royalties or even Club varieties is considered, this issue becomes more complex, since the authorization of the respective licensee must first be obtained and, if authorized, it must be Consider the payment of the corresponding royalties and the delivery of fruit to the owners of the license, if applicable.

Varietal replacement is a task that has been promoted in Chile for years, both by experts and by the institutions that drive the Chilean blueberry export industry. This because clearly the fruit has lost competitiveness, and one of the ways to recover it is the adoption of new and better varieties that exist in the market, which allow to offer a better production in the aspects of caliber, flavor, bloom and condition of arrival to distant destinations. The main alternative is the start-up of plants for replacement, but sometimes, and according to the conditions described by the expert Pilar Bañado, it is also possible to think about the alternative graft solution.

Source
Martín Carrillo O. - Blueberries Consulting

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