Genetic enhancement researchers
Highlighted the Existing Possibilities for
Cultivar diversification in the fruit supply chain
Optionsand
opportunities
E
pagri has been conducting re-
search works on the genetic
enhancement of apple trees
for more than 45 years, and is
now concentrating integrated
efforts of researchers from Experiment Sta-
tions in Caçador and São Joaquim, state
of Santa Catarina, with the purpose to of-
fer more options of well adapted cultivars,
resistant to diseases and with the quality
of fruits equivalent or even superior to the
current clones of Gala and Fuji. As results
of this work, 19 cultivars have already been
launched, four of them mutations of Gala
and Fuji apples and 15 hybrids. According to
the researchers, some of these hybrid culti-
vars show a high agronomic value and high
fruit quality, where the followingareof note:
SCS417 Monalisa, SCS425 Luiza, SCS426
Venice and Daiane. From the spontaneous
Gala or Fuji mutation derivations, the most
conspicuous is Epagri 405 Fuji Suprema,
which now accounts for more than 70% of
the Fuji and Early SCS413 Fuji orchards.
In view of this, company researchers
engaged in this area in Caçador (SC), Mar-
cus Vinícius Kvitschal and Maraísa Crestani
Hawerroth, consider opportune and via-
ble the use of cultivar diversification, jointly
with the Gala and Fuji clones, and they sug-
gest that distribution should be carried out
according to the harvesting period through-
out the year (seebox). Theyunderstand that
it would be a strategy to boost the competi-
tiveness and profitability of the apple farm-
ingbusiness inmany regions inSouthBrazil,
“in particular because of the maximization
of the use of labor in the Brazilian fruit pro-
ducing farms”.
