In the case of the blueberry industry, and its global market reality, the extension of the geography of blueberry production encourages the development of new varieties, in such a way that they respond to the needs of production projects in regions with climates, soils, human resources and agricultural practices increasingly different.

This demand for special varieties is also explained by the new and increasingly high demands of consumers who, like the new producers, correspond to an increasingly heterogeneous and complex reality.

Independent market

In this context, one of the markets that has grown the most for the blueberry industry is plant genetics. The demand for new varieties has led the sector to develop in such a way that it could be approached as an independent market within the world of the agrofruticultural industry. For this reason, we spoke with the doctor in Biotechnology, Rolando García, a SynergiaBIO researcher about his experience in blueberry genetics, who tells us that his company has a Germplasm Bank vitro y ex vitro of very important open varieties.

"This Germplasm Bank is made up very carefully, selecting very productive and healthy individuals in fields of associated producers who helped us select their best plants," he says.

What is your participation in MBO varieties?

• The arrival of this new genetics in Chile was produced by Snackberries, a company that holds the production and marketing license, and SynergiaBIO the plant propagation license. The MBO show includes early, mid, and late season varieties, and some are oversized varieties, such as Eureka and Twilight. They require low cold hours, have an evergreen growth habit and are favored by growths under plastic and / or in a pot.

And other programs?

• Regarding other protected varieties, we have recently acquired the propagation license for Titanium and Megas Blue, two new varieties with high cold requirements, for which we see a lot of potential for Chile, especially for the southern fields. These are varieties that can easily produce more than 20 T / Ha, their fruits are very tasty, very firm and suitable for both fresh production and IQF. We are fine-tuning the details to bring the first plants to Chile, and after subjecting them to the rigorous quarantine process, we hope to make them available to growers in spring 2022, although we hope to have a group of plants for testing in spring 2021 and fall 2022.

Science Financing

“We are an R&D company, recognized by CORFO and the Ministry of Economy, which creates value with the application of scientific and technological knowledge in the field of biotechnologies. This is how we generate biotechnological solutions to various problems of national and international economic activity, quickly and cost effectively. This allows us to generate cash and finance our long-term research, since we not only depend on competitive funds to finance ourselves, but more than 80% of our R&D budget comes from our own income ”, explains the scientist.

Highly rated HR

The company generates advanced scientific knowledge, of its own authorship or in an associated manner, and has publications on different protectable technologies. It has its own genetic improvement programs and highly qualified human resources. "A distinctive aspect of our company is the high qualification of our collaborators, which we believe is unique in the industry," says Rolando García, and explains that they have four PhDs and eight Master of Science degrees in their team. “Just over half of our workforce has higher education. This human potential makes a big difference, since we can tackle very complex problems to solve them in a practical way ”, he assures.