A group of crop consultants from Chile who advise on fruit tree production for avocados, cherries, citrus, nut and stone fruits recently visited the BioAtlantis facility in Tralee, County Kerry. The visit began with a tour of the state-of-the-art facility which produces natural compounds. The Chilean consultants had the opportunity to view the in-house research and development facilities that host greenhouse and field trial sites; Department of Agriculture approved Nematology and Mycology facilities and the EPA approved testing centre for Plant Biology. This was followed by a presentation from BioAtlantis experts on their data from several field trials highlighting the advantages for growers in using BioAtlantis’ Agri Prime product range. A healthy and informative discussion followed on the benefits of the technologies which primes plants ahead of oxidative stress brought on by extreme weather events including cold, drought, heat, salinity and waterlogging.
The following day, the consultants were taken on a tour of “The Ring of Kerry” with stops in Caherdaniel, Sneem, Ladies View, Ross Castle and Killarney. The highlight of the day was a boat trip to the Skellig Rock which has been classified as a UNESCO World heritage site. The final stop on the Irish leg of their European tour was the world-famous Guinness Storehouse, Dublin.
The Chilean crop consultants and BioAtlantis personnel then flew into Barcelona, Spain. This leg of the trip included a visit to Lerida in Spain where they looked at various aspects of Cherry & Walnut production. Seville was the next destination to assess a Citrus operation producing various varieties. It was clear to the group that substantial investment had been made both in root stock, nutrition management and plastic protection. However, despite that investment, the crops are still vulnerable to the vagaries of the weather causing stress. This is especially relevant in the reproductive phase including fruit set and sizing. SuperFifty Prime is an excellent solution to mitigate these stress events with two applications at the critical physiological stages of the crop. There it gives the grower a minimum of 3:1 Return on Sustainable Investment (ROSI) and often multiples of this. While in Seville, the group made the short trip to Huelva to see “Muelle de las Carabelas”. The prominent exhibition contains three replicas of Christopher Columbus’s boats for his first voyage to the Americas, the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria. The trip ended as the group travelled to Portugal where they visited a corporate grower that specialises in Olives.