We are part of the change in the stone fruit sector: new varieties, agronomically consolidated and with flavor, commercial formats to contain costs, and adapted to the new production systems, where hedgerow formations are starting to become a reality.
Immersed in a new stone fruit season, the producing and marketing sector seems to be experiencing a new momentum today, largely derived from the fact of having hit rock bottom during the last seasons. The bet for wrong and not consolidated varieties according to the production areas, the excess of volumes in some cases, and the lack of commercial planning, led the stone fruit sector to a necessary restructuring, and today it seems to be starting to bear fruit.
This is how it is experienced at Viveros Hernandorena, a company specialized in stone fruit trees, which has not been exempt from intoning the mea culpa and turning to offer, not only varieties with flavor and consolidated, but economic sales formats to cushion as far as possible the high production costs, ensure maximum plant health and even, look towards production systems where mechanization and robotization is being imposed.
“Everyone in the stone fruit sector, and we too, have analyzed what we had done wrong. This has led us to a reorganization, a rebalancing and greater professionalization, which puts us at a good starting point to recover positions in the production and marketing of stone fruit trees and, above all, to satisfy consumer demand”, explains Rosa Hernandorena, commercial director.
New varieties
While a decade ago the proliferation of varieties without contrasts and with very questionable flavor and brix degrees were in the spotlight as one of those responsible for the deterioration of the sector, today it is precisely the new varieties that arouse the most enthusiasm. “We work with breeders such as PSB, which is placing on the market materials with high flavor, consolidated, and in a slow way, to avoid those imbalances of yesteryear”, explains the commercial director, alluding, for example, to a new range of platerinas that will already be available for marketing next year, and that stand out for their flavor, brix degrees or absence of cracking, among other aspects.
In addition to PSB and IPS, Viveros Hernandorena also has a new license for the multiplication of Geoplant plants, with excellent varieties of nectarines such as Gea and Febe, and is in the process of obtaining it from Cot Internacional.
But this nursery is not only betting on varieties with flavor, but also on plants very focused on new production systems, such as fruit trees in hedgerows. “The idea is to implement in stone fruit trees the planting model that is already being carried out in olive and almond orchards. Narrower planting frames, with trees in hedgerow formation, which allow mechanization and robotization of the farm. The objective is to make the field more profitable, more efficient”, adds Rosa Hernandorena.
In this sense, they work hand in hand with Agromillora with the Rootpac 40 rootstock, which allows them to control the vigor of the plants and adapt to this type of hedgerow farms, especially for early and mid-season varieties.
Sales formats
Viveros Hernandorena is also adapting its sales formats to customer demand. While they continue with the C11 pot, the marketing of bare-root fruit plants is gaining in volume. “The bare root allows us to have a larger volume of plants, while offering a more economical format,” says the sales manager, noting that, thanks to this format, they expect to soon exceed 250,000 fruit plants sold annually.
This nursery also offers the 7×7 format for stone fruit trees: it is the same pot where the micro-grafts are grown, which is trained and a pre-formed mini-plant is delivered, and very focused on large farms and hedgerow formations, where the planting frame is very high.
Varietal reliability
And all this, with the maximum guarantees that Viveros Hernandorena brings together under its seal of Varietal Reliability, under which they offer varietal authenticity, that is, they guarantee 100% homogeneity of the plant material used; varietal adaptability, that the variety is proven and consolidated agronomically and is also stable; and varietal health, guaranteeing the control of pests and diseases from the initial material to the final sale of the plant.
“100% of the grafted material is done in our facilities, which allows us to have absolute control of the traceability of all the material and to be able to respond to the demands of our customers at any time”, assures Rosa Hernandorena.
