Sweet cherry production in South Patagonia, Argentina

CITTADINI E.D., SANZ C., SZLÁPELIS S.E., MANAVELLA F., SAN MARTINO L., CÁRCAMO M.A., MUNDET C.A., PERI P.L., KIKUCHI N., ÑANCUCHEO J.A., VAN KEULEN H.

Bursa, Turquía

Simposio; 5th International Cherry Symposium; 2005

International Society of Horticultural Science

In South Patagonia, the total sweet cherry area has increased from 176 ha in 1997 to 507 ha in 2005, of which 232 ha are located in Los Antiguos (46° 19’ SL; 220 m.a.s.l.), 158 ha in the Lower Valley of Chubut River (LVCHR) (43° 16’ SL; 30 m.a.s.l.),  52 ha in Sarmiento (45° 35’ SL; 270 m.a.s.l.), 35 ha in Esquel (42° 55’ SL; 570 m.a.s.l.) and 30 ha in Comodoro Rivadavia (45° 52’ SL; 50 m.a.s.l.). The most common varieties are ‘Lapins’, ‘Bing’, ‘Newstar’, ‘Sweet Heart’, ‘Stella’, ‘Sunburst’ and ‘Van’ grafted on ‘Mahaleb’, ‘Pontaleb’, ‘SL64’, ‘Colt’ and ‘Mazzard’. Trees are generally drip–irrigated, and planted at high densities, using training systems such as tatura, central leader and modified vase (2700, 1100 and 1000 trees ha-1, respectively). Growers in Los Antiguos are more traditional, planting mainly in vase at 400 to 1000 trees ha-1 and irrigating by gravity (74% of the area). Only 4.4% of the area of Los Antiguos is frost protected, as growers strongly rely on the moderating effect of lake Buenos Aires. Frost control systems are absent in Comodoro Rivadavia, because the orchards that are already in the productive phase are located next to the sea, in an area with low frost risk. The frost-protected area is 49% in Sarmiento, 35% in Esquel and 57% in LVCHR. Cherry fruits are harvested from November (LVCHR) to the end of January (Los Antiguos and Esquel), and only for picking, the labour demand during the 2004/2005 season was 100000 hours. In that season, 7 packing houses exported 390 tons (45% of the total production) to Europe. Most orchards have not yet reached their mature stage and new ones are being established. Therefore, fruit volumes will continue to increase and shortage of labour and packing facilities may become a constraint