The cherry industry has undergone significant development in recent years, driven by the need to adapt to the requirements of increasingly demanding markets, such as China. The development of new varieties to maintain the competitiveness of the sector can extend its production to other interested countries.

Genetic adaptation
Traditional varieties such as Santina, Lapins and Regina have dominated the market, however, the emergence of new genetic programs has opened up a range of possibilities to improve product quality. Since 2015, several varieties have been subjected to rigorous testing to evaluate their performance in different production scenarios.
Programs such as SMS in the United States have introduced varieties such as Frisco, Nimba and Pacific Red, while the Italian program at the University of Bologna has developed Sweet Ariana and Sweet Gabriel. Meanwhile, the IFG program has explored varieties with lower chilling requirements, which could likely benefit Peru in its attempts to enter the industrial cultivation of cherries.

Lima meeting
The viability of cherry cultivation in Peru will be discussed in depth at the meeting that the international blueberry industry will have in Lima this 12 and 13 March, on the occasion of the XXXIV International Blueberry Seminar.
In the complementary Hall of the meeting, during the first day, the quality and post-harvest specialist, Claudio Yáñez, will give the talk: “Introduction to the cherry industry”. Following this, the Key Account Manager of Agromillora Group, Mauricio Zúñiga, will address the topic of “Rootstocks for cherries with low cold requirements for Peru”, and finally a panel discussion will be held on “Opportunities for cherry production in Peru”, in which the speakers Claudio Yáñez and Mauricio Zúñiga will participate, together with the director of Viveros el Tambo de Perú, Samuel Escalante and the manager of Perufrut SAC, Santiago Fumagalli.

Varietal development
Varietal development is a process in constant evolution and it is a variant that can make the cherry a viable fruit to produce in other interested countries with experience in fruit and agricultural production, such as Peru, where there have already been experimental attempts and there is a lot of interest in developing this industry.
The process of evaluating new varieties is crucial to determine their commercial viability. Factors such as size, firmness, flavour and acidity play a key role in the acceptance of these fruits in international markets, although the rush to introduce new options to the market can create problems if the productive and post-harvest characteristics of each variety are not adequately considered.

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