Solution helps growers determine size profile of crop to make better forecasting decisions
The Chilean Kiwifruit Committee is trialling a new modelling tool to help growers estimate the distribution of fruit sizes at the time of harvest so they can make more informed commercial decisions.
The tool was developed under the Technological Programme for Export Fruit Growing in the Central South Zone (PTEC-Central South Zone) project, supported by the Production Development Corporation (Corfo), the Foundation for Fruit Development (FDF), and the Chilean Kiwifruit Committee.
The committee’s technical advisor, Elizabeth Köhler, said that in a pilot, the tool gathered data from the past three seasons to estimate the spread of sizes an orchard with produce.
“What is missing is the second part regarding how we determine, in advance, the estimation of kilos, that will allow us to generate a valid methodology for the industry and that is applied in all orchards,” she said.
The committee plans to allow produces to upload their own data onto the kiwifruit management platform in order to keep improving the statistical model.
Köhler said that once fully developed, the tool would help exporters to make better commercial decisions because they would know early on whether they have large or small fruit and thus be able to plan accordingly for different markets.
