Over the past two decades, there has been a significant increase in labour costs, with a rise of 244%. As a result, labour expenses currently constitute approximately 67% of the whole expenditure associated with cherry production. The preponderance of labour expenses is mostly allocated to the harvest phase, constituting over 50% of the overall expenditure.
The process of orchard intensification has been found to result in the early onset of fruit bearing, while also ensuring the production of fruit of good quality. In addition to the utilisation of dwarfing rootstocks, the selection of appropriate training systems holds considerable importance as it exerts a notable impact on the harvest efficiency.
Indeed, there is a growing interest in planar systems and Y-systems due to their ability to enhance canopy light interception and speed-up harvest practices. Currently, it appears that plants trained using the UFO (upright fruiting offshoots) method have the highest harvest rate (0.81 kg/min), followed by those trained using the KGB (Kym green bush) method (0.72 kg/min), while the classic open center method has the lowest rates (0.47 kg/min).
In addition, the crop load management is of utmost importance, commencing with the practise of bud thinning. To further optimize the efficiency of sweet cherry orchards, it is imperative to develop compact fruit walls that possess canopies capable of effectively capturing sunlight while also being suitable to mechanization. This will also make it possible to reduce the high production costs, which today are mainly related to the need for manual labour.
Source: I. Iglesias, Development of innovative high-density orchards aiming for an efficient and sustainable sweet cherry production, IX International Cherry Symposium http://2021.cherries.org.cn/replayEn.html
Melissa Venturi
University of Bologna (IT)
28 Jan 2025
Countries such as Serbia can successfully utilise waste by transforming it into biochar. Due to its special structure, biochar is able to adsorb and immobilise enzymes useful for the degradation of toxic substances.
19 Dec 2023
The relevance of the cherry for the brown bear lies in the fact that it is the first fleshy fruit to ripen at the start of the hyperphagia period, when the availability of other fruits is limited, and its relevance as a resource for the bear has increased in recent times.
19 May 2026
A study carried out in Konya, Turkey, analyzes energy efficiency, greenhouse gas emissions and input use in sour cherry production, highlighting strong productivity but high reliance on electricity, chemical fertilizers and non-renewable sources across the production cycle today.
19 May 2026
Carolina Yañez analyses how Chile aims to strengthen Drosophila suzukii management through preventive monitoring, data, innovation and international cooperation, protecting export cherries and berries from growing phytosanitary pressure in the most demanding global markets.
