Alejandro Navarro Diaz, general manager of IVU - International Varieties Unlimited LLCA presented the new cherry varieties marketed under the MEDA® brand at Macfrut 2023.
"Our origin," says Navarro, "goes back more than 50 years when Marvin Nies, a Californian who has dedicated his entire life to creating new cherry varieties, started selecting material essentially from Bing to exploit its benefits and produce earlier varieties. His experimental orchard in California was a marvel: it was 80 acres and each tree was practically a different variety.
Since 2009, having reached an agreement with Marvin, Navarro and his research team have started breeding work on a number of varieties he has produced during his lifetime. "They are the fruits," Navarro continues, "of fruitful cross-breeding work on cherry trees, a passion that has moved Marvin throughout his life and which has resulted in the work that International Varieties Unlimited (IVU) has developed together with his family and a group of leading companies in the production and marketing of cherries worldwide.
The ability and joint work of everyone has helped to achieve valuable results. "Our selection of MEDA® varieties," Navarro concludes, "is bearing fruit and will continue to do so in the future, as Marvin has left us a great legacy to select and develop in different parts of the world."
Below, exclusively for Cherry Times, is the IVU report presented at Macfrut 2023.
26 Feb 2024
Up to the sixth week, 82,452,392 five-kilo cases of cherries were exported in the 2023/2024 season, and although this figure is lower than the 83,220,842 cases exported in the 2022/2023 season, the figures are predictable after a difficult year for producers.
02 Jan 2026
Chile, the world’s top exporter of fresh cherries, is tackling the growing threat of Drosophila suzukii through an advanced strategy that includes the Sterile Insect Technique and a cross-border partnership with Argentina to safeguard fruit quality and global market access.
27 Mar 2026
Retractable rain covers enhance yield and fruit quality in family cherry orchards in Chile. They provide climate protection, increased light exposure and efficient labor management, offering a flexible solution for small growers seeking stability and cost optimization.
27 Mar 2026
Insect nets in cherry orchards modify temperature, humidity and solar radiation, shaping the microclimate without altering plant phenology. Data from the Ceris’innov project in France highlight effects on heat, wind, fruit development, quality and orchard management.
