ENTERED INTO BETWEEN CONSORZIO KIWIGOLD AND PATAGONIAN FRUITS
Envisaging the production of this esteemed fruit in the Argentine province of Buenos Aires, an area particularly suited to the cultivation of kiwi fruit
In the age of globalisation, a distance of more than 11,000 kilometres no longer represents an obstacle to launching strategic and effective collaboration between businesses operating in two different hemispheres. As a result of this philosophy, two leading global kiwi growers such as Consorzio KiwiGold in Cesena (corporate.jingold.it) and Patagonian Fruits (www.patagonianfruits.com) in General Roca, Argentina, have entered into an important agreement for the production of organic kiwifruit – gold Jintao variety – in the South American country. This product is seeing increasing success among consumers, who continue to show greater appreciation for this new actinidia variety and on a parallel are increasingly interested in organic crops. Thanks to its abundant uncontaminated areas, Argentina presents particularly favourable pedoclimatic conditions for the cultivation of organic fruit and vegetables.
Accordingly, Patagonian Fruits, already a leading grower of organic apples and pears in the Black River and Neuquén valleys, has identified optimum conditions for the cultivation of kiwi fruit in the province of Buenos Aires (Balcarce and Sierra de los Padres), both green (Hayward variety) and gold (Jintao).
Therefore, the agreement entered into with Consorzio Kiwigold has a decidedly solid basis, envisaging the production of organic gold kiwi fruit out of season, in the southern hemisphere.
During the initial phase, 40 hectares will be planted, 15 of which have already been bedded and should supply the first crops in April 2018, to then cover, by 2018, an overall surface area of 100 hectares.
The marketing of the product will be handled exclusively by Jingold™.
“By means of this agreement – declared the chairman Hugo Osvaldo Sanchez – Patagonian Fruits proposes to continue investing in the kiwifruit sector, in particular in areas where the fruit has excellent characteristics. Our region in fact has the peculiarity of being pests-free and this allows us to produce with little inputs and with trust in a promising future. Accordingly, we hope to be able to add the Red Jingold Kiwi to our production soon”.
“Production of organic kiwi fruit is limited, especially in the southern hemisphere – emphasises Alessandro Fornari, Jingold director. As a result of the partnership agreement reached for the production of organic Jingold kiwi fruit in Argentina we will be able to offer the markets a new product which has generated great expectations in the customers, especially those in the USA”.
Cristina Fabbroni, Consorzio Kiwigold’s technical manager, says: “Our recent visit to the already operating Hayward’s plants has highlighted the great potential characterising the area. It features not only fertile soil enriched by breeding throughout the years, but also natural basins for irrigation, which play a crucial role in obtaining high-quality fruit. Moreover, the area exploits cutting-edge technology as far as the planting of the first hectares is concerned, using automatic systems to monitor both irrigation and fertigation, and providing hail-protection covers to safeguard fruit”.
