No delays in getting grapes to high humidity precooling: the way to avoid dry stems
The table grape industry’s problem with dry stems is well-known, says Jan Lievens, of UTE Applied Postharvest Technologies, but it is also wholly avoidable, he believes.
He refers to the presentation on South African grapes delivered by Oscar Salgado from SanLucar at the Global Grape Summit of 2020, in which Salgado noted “a strong discrepancy” between fruit in the field compared to its arrival, naming dry stems (rachis) a technical challenge to the South African industry.
Jan adds that the appearance of grapes is even more prominent this season, as sales are slower and grapes remain in storage for longer upon arrival.
Keen interest in new ARRA varieties at recent field days in South Africa
Amid the uncertainty cast by Covid on the export table grape market, there was a strong turnout of growers and exporters at TopFruit’s recent annual field day in Augrabies (instead of Aussenkehr, Namibia) and, for the first time, in Limpopo.
Attendees to the Limpopo field day could clearly see why ARRA 29 (ARRA PASSION FIRE™) is one of TopFruit’s topselling varieties, with its intense colour (without the aid of Ethephon), berry size and early harvesting period, says Arnold Viljoen, TopFruit table grape business unit manager, resulting in positive market feedback.