Portrait of a sweet cherry breeder: Gregorio Lopez-Ortega
18 Jan 2024
n this article, José Quero García, member of the technical-scientific committee of Cherry Times, interviewed Gregorio Lopez-Ortega, breeder at the Chilean company Hortifrut.
Davide Nari, Valentina Roera
Agrion – Foundation for Research, Innovation and Technological Development of Piedmontese Agriculture
The cherry tree is undergoing a period of major innovation across all components of its production process.
A true revolution in planting systems is underway; new varieties are increasingly being adopted, characterized by large size, sweet flesh, low acidity, and high firmness.
In addition, new materials are being developed that significantly extend the harvesting calendar by 15–20 days compared to current reference cultivars.
New low-vigor rootstocks are spreading, enabling the development of new training systems in wall form and, consequently, the adoption of new management techniques, including the use of precision machinery.
According to the European Union: Stone Fruit Annual report by the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) – USDA, the European cherry orchard area covers 165,000 hectares, with an upward trend over the last four years (figure 1).
The leading cherry-producing country is Poland, which produced approximately 200,000 tons in the 2023/24 season, followed by Spain with 110,000, Greece with 70,000, and Italy with 50,000 tons.
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