Source: Stefano Lugli
The Arbiozome project, coordinated by the Pugère research station, was carried out over three consecutive years, from 2022 to 2024. It was based on the aggregation of experiments conducted at three sites, each monitored by a different partner, to assess the potential impact of biostimulants on tree crops. At the Tapy research station, four treatments were compared with a control treatment, all in cherry orchards but with a variable range of measurements.
In France, cherry production is strongly concentrated in three main agricultural regions: Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur (36%), Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (33%) and Occitanie (22%). National production is estimated at around 32,000 tonnes per year (source: Annual Agricultural Statistics). Vaucluse is the leading department for cherry production, accounting for around 25% of the national tonnage of cherries for fresh consumption.
French fruit production, and cherry cultivation in particular, is in sharp decline. In the south-east, the cultivated area has fallen by 10–30% in ten years (Agreste, 2011), due to pressure on land use (urbanisation, infrastructure) and declining farm profitability. In addition, the arrival of difficult-to-control pests, such as Drosophila suzukii, has strongly discouraged growers, contributing to the reduction in cultivated area from 15,000 hectares in 1989 to 8,000 hectares in 2020.
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