Articles by Neal Wallace,Nikos Protofanous

Technology

Kiwifruit flourishing in northern Greece

Reading Time: 4 minutes It’s the farmer’s curse wherever in the world you are: it doesn’t rain for weeks but chucks it down when you least want it. So it was for Greek kiwifruit grower Kostas Kallitsis earlier this month. He was relieved after two days of rain to get a team of pickers back into his 9.5 hectare crop of Green kiwifruit. His Katerini orchard sits south of Thessaloniki, between the Thracian Sea and Olympus mountains in northern Greece. His family has been growing kiwifruit since 1987 and he supplies Zespri. In 2018 he was one of the first to trial Zespri SunGold. Such was its success, yielding about 50t/ha, he has approval to plant 2ha next year, and hopes to eventually grow 3ha. His oldest Green vines were on track to yield 25/t a hectare this year, slightly back on the regional average of 30t/ha and what he has produced in recent years. The fruit is also slightly smaller than last year, but the average Brix is 7.5%. Reliable weather has not required vines to be covered but Kallitsis said the climate is changing, with more heavy weather events, so he will cover his commercial SunGold crop. Winters can be cold in Katerini, with 1000 to 1200 chilling hours, which Kallitsis said is ideal for Green and will also suit SunGold. The soil is 60% sand, 40% silt and 1.5% organic matter. “It’s not the best in Greece, but it’s pretty decent,” he said. The region has a history of growing apples, olives, grapes, arable crops and vegetables with kiwifruit grown for 40 years, the longest in Greece. The 36-year-old also grows strawberries and table grapes. Irrigation comes from bores and Kallitsis said local authorities are starting to impose restrictions on its use. It is unclear what that will mean for his orchard. Like many other European Green kiwifruit growers, Kallitsis is a supplier to both Zespri and other markets. To supply Zespri, he is required to adhere to the same quality control standards and monitoring as growers in New Zealand, with Zespri taking only his very best fruit. Twelve years ago, prior to supplying Zespri with Green kiwifruit, he was receiving about €30-40c/kg. Now it is about €1.10/kg. Interest in growing kiwifruit, especially SunGold, is reflected in demand for land in Katerini, with suitable bare land selling for €30,000 to €40,000/ha. It costs another €50,000/ha to establish an orchard. Nikos Adamidis has one of Greece’s oldest kiwifruit orchards, established in 1984 when his father replaced an apple orchard. Today Nikos Adamidis grows about 12ha of Green kiwifruit in Katerini, which stems from his father’s decision to grow something new. While continuing to grow Green kiwifruit, next year he plans to increase a 0.3ha trial of SunGold by replacing 3ha of Green. Adamidis may have only been a Zespri supplier since 2019, but he is devoted to the New Zealand company, saying it provides security and technical support, and helps him manage fruit quality and the timing of harvesting. SunGold knits perfectly with his orchard management, the maturing and harvesting patterns of the two varieties being complementary and allowing better use of infrastructure and labour. SunGold is harvested in September, a month earlier than Green, and the trial has shown the variety to be extremely reliable, hardy and easy to manage. “It’s easy to manage the quality and reach harvest specifications if you follow the technical advice.” His Green crop averages about 30t/ha and SunGold 40t/ha. It also helps that Zespri pays more for the fruit that meets its standards than other markets, he said. A hail net has been erected over his SunGold trial crop, but the concept of this protection is new in Greece where the threat has been low. Materials had be imported from Italy. He will put a net over his commercial crop. Thessaloniki packhouse Proto Fruit was established in 1928 as a wholesaler by Nikos Protofanousi’s grandfather and now the third generation is getting ready to take over – his sons John and Alex. Each year the packhouse handles 24,000 tonnes of kiwifruit, 11,000 tonnes of cherries and 1500 tonnes of grapes. Export director Manolis Anastasiadis said kiwifruit comes from throughout Greece, including Zespri, and is exported throughout much of the world but primarily to Europe, the United States, Canada, the Middle East, South Africa, Asia and Brazil The kiwifruit packaging system uses NZ technology and can sort 25 tonnes an hour. The company also operates a cool store. The kiwifruit season starts in mid-October and runs through until May. Wallace’s Meeting the Market tour has been made possible with grants from Fonterra, Silver Fern Farms, Rabobank, Zespri, Alliance Group, Meat Industry Association, Wools of NZ, Beef + Lamb NZ, NZ Merino, European Union and Gallagher.