Post-harvest problems: the challenges of the cherry industry
27 Feb 2025
With increasing demands for longer shelf life, parameters such as firmness, colour and dehydration of the stalk are crucial for product acceptance in international markets.
For the first time in Greece, the new and imaginative pergola cherry tree training system is being presented. This system promises high yields, uniform and large-sized fruits, easy harvesting in favorable conditions, as well as the long-term maintenance of optimal tree vigor and efficiency.
A new linear cherry training system is being tested in several countries worldwide, with the participation of various agricultural enterprises, especially in cherry-producing countries of the southern hemisphere (Chile, New Zealand, South Africa, Australia), but also in a limited number of experimental plots in northern hemisphere countries (e.g., Netherlands, Hungary, etc.).
It is called Pergola (the word pergola is also used in Greek and means an outdoor structure for protection from the sun and wind) but in the main testing country, Chile, it is called Parron.
Its structure involves transferring the productive surface of the cherry tree to a height of about 1.80 m, using an appropriate support structure similar to that used for kiwi cultivation. In Chile, it has replaced (using the same support structures) many kiwi fields destroyed by the severe bacterial canker epidemic (Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae - PSA).
The system supports the following innovative aspects compared to what is known so far: full utilization of the field surface (1000 m² per hectare), as the entire productive surface of the trees is above ground, as well as vigor and quality production throughout the life of the trees (referred to as "forever young"), with frequent renewal of the fruit-bearing branches.
For further details, download the full report here
