Agricultural Supply Store Schio ratifies
thehighlevelofqualityachievedintheappleorchards,
attestingtoacompletebalancebetweenclimateandproduct
C
limate conditions, which are
always a determining fac-
tor, alongwith accurateman-
agement, as a priority, the
2016/17applecropwas“very
good in terms of fruit quality”, confirms Agri-
cultural Supply Store Schio, biggest processor
and exporter of the sector in Brazil. “Weather
conditions were very favorable and balanced,
which likewise translated into a product of a
high qualitative level”, comments André Wer-
ner, agronomic engineer and technician in
chargeofthecompany’sproductiondivision.
The agronomist recalls that 2016 regis-
tered “one of the best winters over the past
years for the segment, with almost constant
low and mild temperatures, without much
oscillation, which is required for the devel-
opment of the crop”. The climate in spring,
he comments, “was equally good, with the
only inconvenient of several cloudy days
and higher temperatures after the blos-
At thehighest
level
soming stage, which had some adverse in-
fluence on the productivity of Gala apples,
somewhat below their potential, but was
compensated by the apple caliber, one of
the best in recent years”.
All this, along with “lively orchards”, as a
result of last year’s smaller crop, and accu-
rate field work, with permanent heed to the
various aspects of plant and fruit develop-
ment, provided for a cycle of excellent re-
sults as far asqualityandvolumego,Werner
concludes. “There was an excellent bal-
ance in terms of acidity and sugar and in the
crispy properties of the fruit”, he observes.
Still according to him, the good quality was
uniform in all production areas.
Agricultural entrepreneur Schio owns
3,500 hectares of apple orchards in 11 farms
of his own, and acquires the apple crop of
400 small-scale partners, in the regions of
Vacaria (RS) and São Joaquim (SC), where
he also runs his three modern processing
and warehousing plants (packing houses).
The most produced varieties are Gala and
Fuji, besides Cripps Pink, mostly destined
for exports The company stresses that the
good product harvested, processed and
stored with state-of-the-art technology, will
make it possible tomeet all the needs of the
domestic and foreignmarket.
55
Inor Ag. Assmann
