The project “Varietal replacement and optimization of the agronomic management of blueberries to improve yields and fruit quality in southern Chile” has already presented its first results, which have allowed producers to make more informed decisions regarding varieties and production models.

Blueberries are one of the most exported and sought-after fruits in markets that demand high quality. This challenges producers who must develop and adapt technologies and management to address a series of factors that affect the productivity and quality of an orchard, including the replacement of varieties and protection against extreme weather events.

Given this scenario, reducing uncertainty about risks and providing producers with advance certainty regarding the appropriate technologies they should use in the harvest and post-harvest of blueberries to achieve quality fruit that can be exported to markets was one of the objectives addressed by the project “Varietal replacement and optimization of the agronomic management of blueberries to improve yields and fruit quality in the southern zone of Chile” which was part of the Strategic Program for Export Fruit Growing in the Central South Zone” (PTEC-Central South Zone). The project was developed with the support of the Corporation for the Promotion of Production (CORFO), the Foundation for Fruit Development (FDF), the University of Concepción, the Institute for Agricultural Research (INIA) and the Committee on Blueberries and Fruits of Chile.

Richard Bastias, professor and researcher at the Faculty of Agronomy of the University of Concepción, explained that as a result of the project, the book “Production and management of blueberries under cover” was published, a guide on the results of the project and which guided producers regarding the production models that best adapt to the different agroclimatic zones of Chile.

According to the specialist, the main objective of the project that began in 2017 was to improve the yield and quality of blueberries in the southern area, based on the incorporation of new varieties. “In addition, we developed the most suitable production models for the production reality of the southern area, that is, the appropriate management technologies, considering future climate change and climatic conditions. Therefore, in the project, 2 pilot units were established, one in Linares and the other in Traiguén, where new genetic material was incorporated, but a particular climate protection system was also developed, testing different cover materials for climate protection. After 4, 5 years of research, we managed to define the most suitable production models,” he added.

The expert explained that the idea of ​​these programs was to form alliances between the public and private sectors and generate long-term research projects to solve industry problems. “Therefore, it was a technological program dedicated to research and innovation to solve problems of gaps in fruit growing in the southern zone. One of these gaps in the southern zone was that the yields and qualities were not adequate with respect to what the industry requested in order to make the business profitable. Therefore, work was done on 2 axes; the first, technological, regarding the incorporation of new varieties with better genetics in terms of yield and quality. And the second axis was to develop a productive model thinking about climate change. Only now are producers adapting this technology. Therefore, the impact it has had has been super significant because a large part of the producers are carrying out varietal replacement, that is, they are testing new varieties, which give them better yields, but they are also incorporating protection systems against more severe climates.

Bastías explained that the blueberry industry has had a very important competitiveness problem for years, which has to do with the fact that there are strong markets that compete with Chile, for example, Peru or Mexico. “One of the problems of the sector is the loss of our quality and condition of fruit, which comes with lower quality rankings, which means lower returns. Therefore, the impact of the project was that on the one hand, producers who have adopted these varieties have been improving their quality within the markets, for example, with firmer and better quality fruit. In terms of climate protection, you gain nothing by having varieties that have good quality and yield potential if the climate worsens it. Which is a reality, since the latest heat waves in blueberries have caused them to lose their quality. The impact is that producers now have results to make decisions and decide which climate protection systems to install, for example, nets.”

Richard Bastías, professor and researcher at the Faculty of Agronomy of the University of Concepción.

The expert said that the project optimized agronomic management, since the component of developing varieties under covers did not exist in Chile, so it is new information and it is an innovation. “Thanks to the results of the project we have the possibility of deciding if a variety has to be planted under plastic or mesh. One of the varieties that gave the best results was Blue Ribbon, which is much firmer than traditional varieties and with much better yields. We observed that if this variety is planted with mesh or cover, it gives you more quality and yield. This implied a great investment for the producers, since it means a very big change.”

Fruit firmness analysis.

Blueberry quality: physiological and technological bases for harvest and postharvest management

The Agricultural Research Institute, INIA, was also one of the institutions that was part of the project and was led by the director of the Regional Research Center of the entity, Bruno Defilippi, together with his team. The expert indicated that thanks to the project, the publication of the bulletin “Quality in blueberries: physiological and technological bases for harvest and post-harvest management” was completed in 2023, where the main bases for achieving an adequate harvest and post-harvest in this fruit were identified. “This bulletin that we published summarized the project and allowed producers to be guided on how to achieve a fruit with adequate quality, firmness and condition in the field.”

The specialist explained that it is essential to have a good pre-harvest that generates optimal raw material for the harvest, which means good management of nutrition, pests, diseases, and irrigation. “Without that, the post-harvest does nothing. That is why it is key to know when to harvest a variety, thinking that I have to keep it for 30, 40, 50 days for it to reach its destination. Then, in post-harvest technologies we have several such as modified atmosphere, which has been used for decades in Chile and other countries. We also find the use of controlled atmospheres in terms of containers that can modify the environment. That is why it is essential to understand that the generation of raw material is achieved with good pre-harvest and harvest, without that Chile does not have much to do,” he stressed.

Regarding the development of the project, Defilippi indicated that direct contact with blueberry exporters and producers gave rise to this newsletter that they generated and, in the case of the University of Concepción, the book.

“Therefore, there were several strategies for disseminating the results. There are varieties that by the second year you already knew were suitable, so actions were taken to guide the project. The cost was assumed by the project and not by the producer and that is the importance of having these projects with external financing because there is a very high uncertainty regarding generating post-harvest strategies.”

In this way, the constant work provided various benefits for producers regarding how to deal with adverse situations such as the pandemic, which generated logistics problems and increased arrival times to destinations. “Therefore, we have to provide tools to producers and exporters so that they can receive blueberries of good quality and condition after 40, 50 days. Therefore, the project provided certainty in advance regarding what to use to produce blueberries to obtain adequate raw material for export. Therefore, this project reduced uncertainty regarding market, logistics and climate risks. Unlike cherries, in blueberries we have many post-harvest options to reach the markets,” added the researcher.

Bruno Defilippi, director of INIA La Platina.

According to Defilppi, in terms of varieties, he was guided by the moment when the fruit should be harvested so that it reaches the consumer with the organoleptic characteristics that are requested and with a good shelf life. “We are exporting fresh food that must have the same or similar characteristics to when it was harvested. Therefore, the technologies are traditional ones such as controlled atmosphere, modified, microperforated bags, but from this range of technologies, it was necessary to indicate which technologies were the most appropriate.

There was no great development of technologies, but we collaborated in terms of selection to best reach the destinations, especially China, which is a very challenging market since blueberries are not fought over like cherries are.”

The expert explained that “the impacts are difficult to measure in the short term, but the main one was the need to introduce new varieties that adapt to climate change since we have fruit from the Coquimbo Region to the Los Lagos Region. In the post-harvest, the impact was to reduce losses for the producer. We are talking about food security for Chile and the world, therefore, the contribution of selecting post-harvest technology was to reduce losses due to rot, climate, shipping time, among others. In other words, to reduce uncertainty for producers in the face of market changes, therefore, we support producers and exporters to better face these changes.”

In 2023, the bulletin was published, identifying the main bases for achieving an adequate harvest and post-harvest in blueberries.

A key project for the Blueberry Committee

The Chilean Blueberry Fruit Committee was one of the main entities that contributed to the project. Julia Pinto, technical manager of the Committee, explained that varieties such as Blue Ribbon and Top Shelf were used in the pilots and were compared with a control variety, Legacy. “We worked very intensively with the organizations and we, as a Committee, formed a technical committee for the project, which included member companies of the Committee, production technicians and post-harvest technicians. We had meetings as the project progressed and decisions were made in parallel, so the Blueberry Committee was very active in the project. It was the first time we did a project that integrated different institutions.”

“The objective of the project was to see how the varieties worked in different production areas, one conventional and one organically managed. In addition, we worked with different types of covers that were related to the thermal stress of the plant,” said Pinto.

Regarding why the Committee decided to participate in the project, Pinto commented that the opportunity to be part of Corfo's programs was given and the areas to develop the project and the sectors that participated were well defined. “Therefore, we saw an opportunity, we were working at that time on varietal replacement and on the subject of covers. That is why we saw the opportunity to do this exercise with the University of Concepción and INIA. We quickly launched the project, we had the specialists, therefore, it was a perfect fit for us.”

According to Pinto, at that time, two varieties were part of the replacement, which were planted by some producers. “But they did not have a manual on how to do it and what the responses of these varieties would be in different productive areas. Therefore, we did the support with these two varieties: one of them is doing quite well, which is Blue Ribbon, a variety that has been more widely planted. However, the other had some problems in the hottest areas, such as Linares, which is why it was done in two different productive areas. It was very important because technological packages of these varieties came out and also their responses to thermal stress, which began to manifest strongly with the project onwards. We continue with the variety validation program with other Corfo projects, but smaller ones, where we do demonstration pilots, more limited. Taking the experience of this project. One of the parameters that we continue to look at is the responses of the new varieties to thermal stress, where we continue to work with the U. de Concepción, where they help us with new proposals.”

Regarding the benefits, the expert said that “it has been very good because it was seen that, in fact, by managing the varieties (Legacy and Blue Ribbon) well, results are achieved. The producer was taught how to manage them, in terms of nutrition, pruning, pests and diseases. From the first year we have been carrying out dissemination and transfer in the technical workshops. We did not wait for the project to end to make transfers, since we were delivering them during the project, which helped the producers a lot to make decisions in the choice of varieties and in the places where they had to be planted and also how to manage them during harvest and post-harvest.”

Julia Pinto – Technical Manager of the Chilean Fruit Blueberry Committee.

“This project was important because as a Committee, one of our strategic lines is varietal replacement. We are convinced that if there is no varietal replacement, or if there is no continued possibility of competing with the new genetics that other countries are bringing out, it will be complicated. With genetics, we start with the first solid foundation, then comes the second foundation, how to extract the potential from that good genetics, and that is what we do with the validation of varieties, in which we analyze how they work in our conditions and we seek to get the best performance, quality and condition. These projects help us to provide objective and public information to producers who want to carry out varietal replacement. In advance, we provide tools to producers so that they can make the best decisions,” Pinto emphasized.

Various producers participated in the PETEC project. One of them was Lilian Camelio in Traiguén, in the Araucanía region. “These projects are always a contribution because they investigate and measure specific things.

It was developed in 2 different agro-climatic zones, therefore, we were able to see that in my area, La Araucanía, the issue of nets was not justified as much, but it could be a good alternative in the future if the issue of climate change continued to worsen because by using nets and covers, water consumption was much lower. We were also able to visualize which varieties adapt better to the soil and pests. In the area of ​​La Araucanía we have the pest Aegorhinus superciliosus, which is super fierce and there was a specific variety that this pest attacked. Another variety is Top Shelf that did poorly in other places, but in my area it did well. Therefore, this project provided super valuable information, which is not only lacking in the blueberry harvest, but in all species, because as producers we find ourselves adrift or making bets regarding which varieties to put or cover to use, without much information from the field.”

In the case of Jorge Paulman, he worked in the Lineares area with approximately 40 hectares. “The trial was 0.5 hectares and it was very interesting to participate, since it allowed us to validate the zonal behavior of some varieties.”

Importance for Corfo

The PTEC-South Central Zone projects are key for Corfo in terms of developing a more competitive industry. According to Macarena Alfaro, director of technological programs at Corfo, they have been promoting agricultural areas for decades, but in particular those related to the issue of industry sophistication. “We see that, as large fruit exporters, Chile also has the opportunity to export more sophisticated products and in that, fruit genetics takes on a very important connotation, where we begin to promote not only the generation of genetics at a national level but also adaptation, which involves a significant degree of technological development. It is part of what we have promoted with Frutas de Chile, as well as with the Consorcio de Biofrutales, the Fruit Growing Center of the University of Chile, which promote genetics and the development of varieties at a national level.”

“What motivates us to participate in the PTEC-Zona Centro Sur Corfo projects is to be able to promote the development of the national industry, based on innovations, entrepreneurship, technological development and through financing tools, among other aspects. With the objective of being able to have a more competitive industry, which has an impact at the level of the territories, in jobs and in the importance of Chile in global markets,” Alfaro emphasized.