EL PINAR maintains its growth in all marketed varieties
EL PINAR closes the nursery campaign with a 20% increase in plant sales. The rusticity of its varieties is once again a guarantee for nurseries and producers.
With the crop fully established and when in just over a month the first strawberries will begin to arrive on the shelves, EL PINAR takes conclusions of the plant sales campaign, which this year has been marked by more favourable weather in a year with lower general production in the producing areas.
The explanation could be, according to Jorge Muñoz, commercial manager of EL PINAR, a slightly cooler spring, but especially due to the lack of effective tools for soil disinfection in nurseries. “In our case, and thanks to the rusticity of our varieties, diversity and increase in production areas, both in Spain, Poland and Romania, we have been able to meet the demands of producers, even achieving an increase in plant sales of up to 20%,” says Jorge Muñoz.
This is yet another example of the fact that varietal rusticity is an essential characteristic for the strawberry sector, not only in production areas, but also in nurseries. “Nurseries want security when multiplying plants that they can then safely market, and producers also need that security when it comes to implantation, and then also to have quality fruit.”
The Victory variety from the American plant breeding program of Plant Sciences Genetics is positioned here with an important market share, and with potential for growth in all markets, reinforced by its plant rusticity, crop implantation and the quality of its fruit.
Optimizing the rhythm of harvesting
With the experience of other years, EL PINAR has opted this campaign to carry out a slower rhythm and delivery of plants in order to avoid high temperatures in the plantation areas. In the end, they were not recorded, but a change in trends is appreciated, where the farmer is more aware that to achieve precocity it is not necessary to plant early, but to have the appropriate varieties and formats.
In this context, EL PINAR has increased the sale of potted plants, because in addition to this precocity, it provides security in the implantation of the variety. In this sense, it should be noted that they have carried out important improvements in their potted plant production centers: new facilities, new shading and irrigation system, in addition to the production of stolons in hydroponics, from which they expect an exponential increase for the next campaign.
EL PINAR is also incorporating new types of potted plants, which offer different behaviors to the producer. On the one hand, plug plants, where the size of the is being reduced to simulate bare roots; on the other hand, tray plants where they are supplied with an induced number of buds, and finally the normal pot. “We give different options to the producer depending on their needs, and also on the variety we are working with,” explains the sales manager.
R&D line
With a consolidated varietal portfolio in the Mediterranean Basin, EL PINAR is currently expanding its trial fields in these same production areas, mainly in Spain, Italy and Greece, in order to advance in varietal selections adapted to each production area.
As for the research line, this is focused on strengthening its range of early varieties. They currently have a new product, the BG061 selection also from the American Plant Sciences Genetics program, which is in the trial phase with farmers and which complements Primavera and Renewall. “We have very good growth forecasts with this new material, because in addition to precocity and productivity, it incorporates rusticity, which today is the starting point of any varietal selection,” argues Jorge Muñoz.
This reinforces the rusticity in the EL PINAR catalogue, a hallmark of this nursery, which is clear that the future lies in varieties that offer guarantees to all the links in the value chain: nurseries, producers and marketers.
