Harvista™ A Very Worthwhile Investment For Rosy Glow (PINK LADY)

For the Mason Orchard (AG & HC Mason) in Forest Range region of the Adelaide Hills, AgroFresh’s Harvista technology does everything that is expected of it on their varieties such as Gala, Jazz, Bravo and Rosy Glow, the high coloured sport (sub variant) of Pink Lady, throughout harvest, storage and packout.

Noel Mason operates the orchard with his father, Ashley, and cousins, Graham and Stephen, and this month (April) they will start harvesting their Pink Lady (Rosy Glows) with the benefits of Harvista for the third season running.

Noel explains that one of the biggest benefits is the way Harvista holds maturity of the fruit on the tree to allow high colour development.

“In terms of harvest management, maturity is the key focus, and before we had Harvista we were reluctant to use other harvest management tools because of the problems with the washout of colour. We have no problems now, because the way this technology works we achieve strong colour advantages.

“Our orchard is in an area with heavy rainfall, and Harvista has been excellent in maintaining the maturity while working around weather events as required. We know that the wide application window for Harvista application brings unique results when applying at the different maturity stages, and we have found that the later application timing of applying Harvista three to seven days before harvest has suited our particular situation best.

“It is our experience that the fruit even stays in good condition without getting too ripe through the second pick which is 10 days after the first.

“We also see the fruit coming out of storage in better condition, with fewer yellow fruit.”

Noel says that as a small grower with 2000 bins of Pink Lady, they have only a limited number of staff to get the fruit picked without it getting too ripe. Harvista allows us to do that.

“The other positive we have noticed with Harvista is that we get less bruising on the second pick, which is down to the firmness of the fruit.”

“This season has been a kind growing one. The Pink Lady crop is looking like a quality one. Harvesting is scheduled to start about April 20, and we will start applying Harvista a bit before that. With the harvest management benefits, good colour development and less bruising, this AgroFresh technology is a very worthwhile investment.