The IQ BERRIES FIELD DAY 2023, held by Osiris Plant Management this Tuesday, August 8 in the city of Trujillo, Peru, began very early, with a visit to Danper Trujillo's field to learn about the IQB varieties and then at noon moved to the facilities of Hass Peru with the same objective.

ACP, Camposol, Don Ricardo, Grupo Trébol, Mailand, SF Almácigos, Agrocasagrande, Carsol, Hass Perú, Synergiabio, Agroberries, Comfrut, Frusan, Hortifrut, Oppy, Morpho, Agrovision, Danper, Giddings, Ideal Fruits, Prolan, are the companies who, together with Osiris Plant Management, participated in the Field Day aimed at learning about the qualities and advantages of IQB varieties.

Behavior in Australia and Africa.

IQB varieties are just arriving in the fields in Peru, but in Africa and Australia they already have some track record. In southern Africa they tolerate the heat very well. They have high vigor and good resistance to trips, which attack and affect other varieties that are close to it much more.

MegaEarly In Australia it produces all year round, with very good fruit quality, consistency and high productive yield. Pruning is done in October and flowering in January, and then harvesting in March, so the cycle from pruning to harvest is 150 days. In southern Africa the variety is very early, maintaining a very good quality of fruit and crunchy. It is versatile and with pruning you can manage harvest dates.

In that region, the first year they do not tipping, but if from the second. If they do not bud from the second year, the primocanes can become very long before they begin to produce buds. Generally, you get 15 to 20 primocanes in the first year, if planted early in the season. Then 50 primocanas in the second year and 75 to 100 primocanas in the third. Depending on the area, 5 to 7 buds are obtained in each primocane and each bud bears 4 to 6 fruits.

MegaCrisp in Australia it has excellent firmness, good bloom and appearance. It is very sweet, with high brix degrees and easy to harvest. In southern Africa it is harvested about a month after MegaEarly. It has a very good flavor, good production, crunchy and the bush grows very well. It has good calibres, although a little smaller than MegaEarly.

It is a faster growing plant (30% more canes than MegaEarly) and is a stronger growing variety. It is recommended tipping to avoid having very long canes or unnecessary growth, since it produces more concentrated fruits at the tips. In addition, it helps the differentiation of buds.

They prune it at 40 cm and tipping at 25 cm. If more is pruned at the tip, the sprouting of the buds below is not very good. A blunt is enough and it is better to blunt lower, in the oldest wood, to have better bud break. Sometimes, in the second year, 2 tipping. The second year the tipping It is important to have more canes in the third year and thus sustain production.

Mega Grand in Australia it offers great fruit quality, very good bloom, quite early and works well under plastic. In southern Africa you can concentrate harvest and get good production. It is very vigorous, with a large bush size. They recommend less fertilization to control growth and for the buds to mature more quickly. Some by the third year are 1,8 m tall.

MegaGem in Australia it offers a high yield. It is a plant with vigorous growth and very good fruit quality. In southern Africa it is harvested 2 to 3 weeks after MegaCrisp. It is very vigorous, with a large bush size. Some by the third year are 1,8 m tall.

Mega One in Australia it has an excellent flavor, large caliber, good early production of primocanes, very good bloom and long postharvest life. In southern Africa it is a not so vigorous shrub compared to the other IQB varieties.

Megastar in Australia it is a late variety, with great flavor, high yield and large caliber, very good crunchy.

MegaCrop In Australia it is an early variety, with a very good size, high yield and very easy to harvest. In southern Africa it offers very good fruit, very good flavor and good bloom. It is vigorous. It has about 20 culms the first year, 40-50 the second year. Same amount of stems as MegaCrisp, but much more vigorous. It performs well under plastic.

The massive IQ BERRIES FIELD DAY 2023 closed in the afternoon with a camaraderie cocktail at the Double Tree Hilton Hotel in Trujillo, in which a Panel Test was carried out with blind tastings of fruit from different varieties and producers.