The activities scheduled for Tuesdays and Thursdays in August, in the context of International Blueberry Month 2022, have been very varied and have been characterized by extensively addressing each of the main aspects that are linked to the cultivation and marketing of blueberries. in the world.

Last Tuesday, the situation of the blueberry industry in Morocco, the status and prospects of the fruit in the international retail trade and the reality of the fruit in the Italian industry and market were discussed in depth.

the gate of africa

In the case of Morocco, the person in charge of presenting the "Current state and projections of the Moroccan blueberry industry" was Amine Benani, president of the Moroccan red fruit producers, who recalled that the Moroccan industry has rapidly moved from 15 hectares in 2008 to the current 5000 hectares and 6000 projected in the short term, in an industry that is growing rapidly hand in hand with technology, modern management systems and new improved varieties, more productive and with better fruit quality

The Moroccan industry produces mainly from October to June and exports its fruit to 54 countries, arriving with a fresh product in 3 or 4 days to the European markets, where its main destination is the English market. It is an industry that grows 20% per year, and its production is concentrated in the north of the country, although it is expanding to the south and to the highlands, seeking to extend its calendar, in order to cover the entire year of production and supply. in the market.

The quality, the best marketing

The analysis of the retail market and the reality of world consumption, in the presentations: "Current state and projections of the blueberry industry in Europe", by Hans Liekens, head of Marketing at Sekoya and "Sales in supermarkets and the structure consumption in Italy”, by Thomas Drahorad, president of NCX Drahorad srl, complemented the conference, expanding on aspects related to consumption, consumer habits and product qualities.

“The fruit has to look good” “It is super important to have a consistent quality” “You have to observe what happens from the farm to the fork, all these elements and variants have an impact on quality”, both warn against a worrying reality of consumption, which has almost 50% rating it as a bad experience and less than 25% rating it as a positive experience.

"There are people who stop consuming for weeks and this impact is enormous" "We must achieve consistent quality" "Years ago we wanted to have good distribution, today quality is the differentiation," they insist. “The best marketing is quality”, they conclude

Quality and sustainability

Regarding the relationship between fruit quality and sustainability, analysts conclude that, since quality is related to the firmness and condition of the fruit, much less food is wasted, so the quality of the fruit also has a very good history of acceptance in supermarkets in this aspect.

"Blueberry water consumption is very low in relation to other fruits and in other aspects we are also very well on the way to sustainability, such as the carbon footprint, because shipping by boat has a lower carbon footprint," they highlight.

New systems and technologies

On the last day, corresponding to Thursday, August 25, the "Production of blueberries in substrates" was addressed by the Portuguese researcher Pedro Brás de Oliveira, from the National Institute of Agricultural and Veterinary Research, noting that "blueberry plants are already well adapted to systems of substrates and protected agriculture”, highlighting that these new systems, associated with the genetics of the new varieties, allow producers and investors to harvest the first year after being planted, which facilitates a quick recovery of the investment and make the activity profitable in the short term.

Water stress and quality

Then, "Improving the quality of blueberry fruits under water stress conditions through the use of hormonal inducers" was discussed, presented by Cristián Balbontín, Manager of the Berries Breeding and Plant Breeding Program at INIA.

"The plant cannot escape from stress, so it has to accommodate itself" maintains the specialist and explains in detail his research based on the application of hormonal inducers that activate the genes of the plant to improve resistance to water stress.

After an extensive and detailed analysis of the data collected from his research, Balbontín concludes that water deficit clearly compromises the metabolism of the plant and, consequently, the production of quality fruit, so the use of hormonal inducers, such as abscisic acid and jasmonate, have shown not only to increase the plant's tolerance to stress in conditions of water deficit, but also that the quality of blueberry fruits is increased by the use of these hormonal inducers, both in conditions of water supply complete, as in conditions of less water availability.

A solid and complete program

The day concluded with the presentation "Nitrogen, Potassium and Foliar Supplements Nutrition in Blueberries grown in soil and substrate", reported by the renowned international researcher and consultant Juan Hirzel, who always stands out for being very generous in sharing knowledge and clarifying doubts regarding the different technical and agronomic aspects related to blueberry cultivation, always based on published scientific evidence and their own research.

In the previous days of the International Blueberry Month, the realities of the main countries of the Latin American industry and their projections or future objectives, the state of the international markets, the logistical, post-harvest, shipment and reception aspects of the fruit, the new in automation and the different challenges of blueberry cultivation, both in the orchard and in the markets.