Chile: They seek to generate varietal change in blueberries through grafting
In the field of blueberry production, the great demand of the markets in terms of fruit quality and transport conditions, or simply the unsuitable fruiting date for each agroclimatic zone, makes a varietal replacement necessary for that production that is It is out of the market due to these characteristics.
In Chile, the technique for this change consists in starting and replanting the chosen varieties, with all the expense and the slow entry into production of the new orchard.
In the Faculty of Agronomy of the University of Concepción, the agronomist, Master of Science, Pablo Muñoz, has been developing graft studies for a couple of years with the aim of changing varieties in established gardens.
In this sense the professional said that, "you can use an adult plant with an already formed structure and take advantage of all the reserves of the original plant in the growth of the new plant, only with the precaution of eliminating the basal shoots of the grafted plant during the first years. At the moment we are conducting studies of types of grafts, dates to perform them, yield by graft and total costs".
With the significant progress, the initiative is projected as a real success. "The preliminary results show a low cost of the varietal change and the great vegetative growth observed during the first season, makes it foresee the possibility of obtaining production the first year" That is to say, and according to what was explained by the researcher Pablo Muñoz, 2015 grafted plants will produce in December of this year, with yields of 3 or 4 orchard plants established in the usual way.
Source: Universidad de Concepción - Espectadordigital.cl
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