Soft fruit

Soft fruits such as blueberries, blackberries, strawberries and raspberries are high value crops which require careful handling. Calcium mobility is a key problem in soft fruit, with deficiency causing internal breakdown and softness, resulting in lost marketing yield, poor transportation and storage. By applying biostimulant products that optimise calcium mobility, such as Plant Impact's Amētros^TM, Fortalis^TMand InCa^TM, growers have observed a reduced incidence of calcium disorders, increasing firmness and improving fruit quality.

Benefits of Amētros, InCa and Fortalis on soft fruit

Improved crop quality, storage and shelf-life.
Increased fruit firmness.
Reduction of fruit splitting and calcium disorders.
Less crop waste and more marketable yield.
Compatibility with other AgChem foliar sprays.

Reduction in blueberry softness

In Chile, 6 L/ha of InCa was applied to blueberries (var. Brigitta and Legacy) at the pink fruit stage. In both varieties, fruit firmness was significantly (P<0.05) increased by InCa. 3 kg of Brigitta fruit was shipped to the UK and assessed for softness 52 days after harvest. Fruit treated with InCa was 7% less soft than the untreated control. Using InCa increases the marketable yield of blueberries by increasing berry firmness and transport quality. More information can be found in the product sheet.