Argentina has high hopes for new, long-life nectarine variety

The National Agricultura Technology Institute of Argentina (Inta) has developed a pioneering new nectarine variety that it claims can withstand more than 47 days in cold storage, a key advancement in allowing shippers to reach distant markets.

“The distinctive feature of Pionero Inta lies in its extraordinary post-harvest storage capacity. While traditional nectarines rarely last more than 14 days in cold storage without losing quality, this new variety maintains its firmness, flavour, and organoleptic characteristics for over a month and a half,” Inta said. “This represents a remarkable technical advancement in a highly perishable crop, whose internal deterioration typically limits its export.”

Gerardo Sánchez, a researcher at Inta San Pedro and one of the variety’s creators, said this will allow Argentine producers to compete in destinations previously inaccessible due to shipping times, such as Europe, the US, and other countries in the Northern Hemisphere.

“During the harvest season in our country, there is no supply of fruit in the Northern Hemisphere, which represents a potential market,” Sánchez said, noting that this opens the door for the variety to be taken up by producers in other regions of the Southern Hemisphere.

According to its creators, from an agronomic standpoint, Pionero Inta does not require differentiated management compared to other varieties harvested in the same window. Its main advantage lies in the fact that, even with standard management, it offers a significantly longer post-harvest shelf-life.

Pionero Inta is yellow-fleshed fruit with a slightly acidic flavour, a juice pH of 3.58 at maturity, and a soluble solids content of 13.8 ° Brix. According to its developers, its skin displays “an attractive, opaque red overcolour that covers 70 per cent of the surface”. Furthermore, it is a plant of medium vigour, and its medium-sized fruit reaches approximately 140g.

Inta says the variety’s chilling requirements cause it to flower early in the San Pedro area, although it could adapt to warmer regions. The harvest takes place between 10 and 20 November.

“In traditional orchards, the estimated yield of Pionero Inta ranges between 12 and 13 tonnes per hectare, consistent with early-ripening varieties in the region. Projections of yield potential under future climate conditions for the region indicate yields comparable to early-ripening varieties,” Inta said.