Buenos Aires and Santa Fe Provinces present a temperate climate, with a frost free ... It is also known as Violeta in Rosario and Ãato Criollo in Buenos Aires.
Artichoke Situation in Argentina S.M. García and I.T. Firpo Cátedra de Horticultura Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias Universidad Nacional de Rosario C.C. Nº 14, Zavalla S2125ZAA Argentina
E.L. Cointry, F.S. López Anido and V.P. Cravero Cátedra de Genética Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias Universidad Nacional de Rosario C.C. Nº 14, Zavalla S2125ZAA Argentina
Keywords: Cynara cardunculus var scolymus, cultivars, production zones, agronomic practices Abstract First plantations began in the XIX century with the arrivals of Italian immigrants who settled in fertile areas of Argentina. Buenos Aires and Santa Fe provinces with a temperate climate, a free freezing period from October to April and an average year rainfall of 1000 mm became the most important production areas. Total artichoke fields comprise around 2000 ha. Traditional cultivation is in a semi-intensive way with vegetative propagation by suckers means. Sucker removal is in autumn and the normal planting grid of 1.4 m between rows and 0.8 within the row yields a density of 9200 plants/ha. Average yields of 8500 kg/ha originates mean income of 6375 U$S /ha. The production period range from May to November, with a concentration between September and October. Applications of gibberelic acid (GA3) are a common practice to achieve precocity. Frances with a 90% of the fields is the most extended cultivar. Others in use are Ñato, Italiano and Blanco. To overcome this situation new adapted clones should be searched. Phytosanitary problems are of importance, with a high incidence of soil borne pathogens, that notably reduce plant stands and to three year the lifetime of production fields. The lack of adapted materials and extensive experimentation have been hindered the spread of seed propagated cultivars. INTRODUCTION The cultivation of globe artichoke in Argentina began in the late XIX century with the arrival of immigrants mainly of Italian origin, who made the first introductions and adapted agronomic practices to local soil and climatic conditions. For many years the estimated-planted area comprises around 4000 ha. Since de 1980s a strong reduction in artichoke fields has been operating, to the actual estimated 2000 ha, due mainly to a gradual decrease in profitability (Zembo, 1996). PRODUCTION AREAS The principal production areas are concentrated around horticultural belts of La Plata, Buenos Aires Province, with 64% of the country artichoke fields; Rosario, Santa Fe Province, with 14% and Cuyo zone, which includes Mendoza and San Juan Provinces, with 19% (Raigón pers. Comm.) (Fig. 1). Buenos Aires and Santa Fe Provinces present a temperate climate, with a frost free period from October to April, and an annual average rainfall of 1000 mm. Soils content between two and five percent of organic matter and a high percentage of clay in the subsoil layers, what in some cases result in hidric erosion due to poor infiltration. In some instances the high content of sodium salts in underground water prevent complementary irrigation. In contrast Cuyo zone is characterized by sandy soils with low percentage of organic matter and an arid climate with an average annual rainfall of only 100 mm, what makes irrigation indispensable to achieve plant production.
Proc. IVth IC on Artichoke Ed.: V.V. Bianco et al. Acta Hort. 681, ISHS 2005
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CULTIVARS Francés (syn. Francés Precoz) Early cultivar, spineless spherical heads of green with violet base bracts (Fig. 4.). Normally harvests start by the end of June and continue until October. Yield 6-7 capitules per plant of a weight ranging 200-250 g. Ñato
It is also known as Violeta in Rosario and Ñato Criollo in Buenos Aires. Late cultivar with tronco-conic compact heads and violet greenish mucronates bracts (Fig. 5). Commonly harvested from mid September until November, when high temperatures substantially reduce head quality. Yield around seven capitules per plant of a weight between 200-250 g. Precoz Italiano (syn. Italiano) Early cultivar of globular heads with green and violet bracts with rudimentary spines (Fig. 6). Produces from mid July until September. Yield 5-6 capitules per plant of a weight between 150-200 g. Blanco (syn. Blanco de San Juan) Highly early cultivar characterized by small plants with entire leaves (Fig. 7). Produce in autumn from March to May, and in spring from July until September. Presents ovoid light green heads with small spines and an average weight of 140-160 g. It is wide spread in Mendoza and San Juan Provinces and is believed to be a derivative of the Spanish cultivar Blanco de Tudela. BREEDING Due to a superior earliness and quality, since the last ten years, Precoz Italiano and Ñato have been substituted to a great extent by Francés. This narrowed the spectrum of available cultivars thus promoting the development of breeding programs by Official Institutions. Tiernito INTA, Gringo INTA, Gallego INTA and San Pedrino INTA were released by the Experimental Station INTA San Pedro (Rodríguez et al., 1996), and Oro Verde and Esmeralda by the Agronomy Faculty of the Rosario National University (this volume). AGRONOMIC PRACTICES The customary method of propagation in Buenos Aires and Santa Fe Provinces is by suckers means. Suckers are rooted offshoots, which are removed from established fields, in spring and autumn, to avoid dense stands. Normally suckers from autumn thinnings are used for new plantations in which a previous selection is held leaving well rooted suckers of a basal diameter between 2 and 3.5 cm. Planting distances are of 1.4 between rows and 0.8 m within the row (around 9-10,000 plant/ha), and commonly artichoke fields are harvested along three or four seasons. In the Cuyo zone the propagation material is obtained from stump pieces with roots and visible swollen buds. It is called “esqueje” and remains the “estaca” used in Spain. Plantations are conducted from January to February with closer distances between plants in the row (0.5 m) due to the widespread use of Blanco, which is a less vigorous cultivar. Plantations remain productive for seven or eight years. In general in all production areas cultural practices include mechanical soil tillage between rows, manual weed removals in the row, phytosanitary and growth regulators treatments, irrigation, fertilization and autumn and spring thinnings leaving one or two suckers per plant, except in the case of Blanco for which no thinnings are done. Weed control is habitually mechanical and normally no herbicides are used. Irrigation is generally conducted by furrow flooding. Neither sprinkler nor drip irrigation has been yet adopted by artichoke growers. The use of gibberelin (GA3) to obtain early 196
flowering in one or two autumnal applications is common practiced. In Francés production is anticipated in 15-30 days depending on the dose. Among the insects and mollusk pest the most important are aphids (Capitophorus sp. and Macrosyphum sp.), nematodes, leaf miners and caterpillars. Snails and slugs only since the last years have been reported as plagues by some growers. In relation to plant diseases, soil born fungus Phythium ultimun Trow, Rhizoctonia solani Kühn and Sclerotium rolfsii Sacc. produce after plantation neck rot in suckers causing in some instances severe reduction in plant stands. Among foliar fungal pathogens the most common infections are from powdery mildew [Leveillula taurica (Lev.) Arn.] (Ronco, 1985), downy mildew (Bremia lactucae Regel), Ramularia leaf spot (Ramularia cynarae Sacc.), bracts blight caused by Ascochyta cynarae Maff. (Alippi, 1997) and artichoke greasy spots (Xanthomonas campestris pv. cynarae). The artichoke latent virus (ALV) transmitted by aphids is wide spread along the production areas, and even when plants present no apparent symptoms causes up to 15-20% yield reduction. Spotted Wilt Virus transmitted by trips is manifested by a light leaves mottled decreasing vigor and occasionally plant death (González et al., 1983). Generally artichoke is not grown as unique vegetable, thus crop rotations with other species as tomato, spinach, lettuce and celery are common practiced. Harvest is done manually when the capitules reach a maximum size before bracts start to open. Heads are cut with a 10-20 cm length portion of stem below the base bearing one or two small leaves. A turgid appearance of these leaves is an indicator of a fresh product. In the Rosarios’s horticultural belt the inflorescenses are threaded with wires by their base in dozens bundles or placed with or without the leaves in wooden cases. In the recent years the use of 3-4 unit trays with polyethylene film protection has been spread. In December when harvest is over plants are above ground cut in order to stimulate the development of new buds for the next season. Yield average is around 8500 kg ha-1 what originate an average annual gross margin of 6375 U$S ha-1 considering the historical price (1985-1992) of 0.75 U$S kg-1 (Hang, 1993). COMMERCIALIZATION In Figure 2 is shown the mean monthly entry of artichokes in the Buenos Aires Central Market. It is appreciable the seasonal concentration of production between July and November. In Figure 3 is presented the mean monthly price of artichokes in the same market. The lowest prices are obtained in the peak of production and in November and December due to a poor head quality. The highest prices are obtained between June and July. From December to May almost no entries are computed. From these two figures it is clear understandable why since the last years a strong shift has been placed towards early cultivars and the use of GA3 in order to reach the highest market prices. The main destiny of production is internal fresh market. In the Cuyo zone a fraction is industrialized as hearts conserves. Exportations have been only sporadic due mainly to the high cost of shipping to the principal centers of consumption and an unfavorable exchange rate that raises internal costs. Literature Cited Alippi, H. 1977. Tizón de las bracteas del alcaucil (Cynara scolymus L.) ocasionado por (Ascochyta cynarae Maff.) en la Argentina. Comunicación de la Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Ferratto, J., Longo, A., Grasso, R., Mondino, M.C. y Fernández Alsina, C. 1997. Ajuste del diagnóstico agronómico del Proyecto Hortícola Rosario. EEA INTA Oliveros, Centro Regional Santa Fe ed. Publicación Miscelánea, 32, 48 p. González, M.P., Nome, S.F., y Triol, G.A.M. 1983. Virosis del alcaucil (Cynara scolymus L.) en la zona de Rosario. IDIA 425-428:63-74. Hang, G. 1993. Análisis económico del alcaucil. Boletín Hortícola. Facultad de Ciencias 197
Agrarias y Forestales, Universidad Nacional de La Plata 1(1):4-14. Rodríguez, J.P., Martinengo, I., Murray, R., Daorden, M. y Triccó, H. 1996. El cultivodel alcaucil. Secretaria de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimantación. Inst. Nac. de Tecnol. Agropecuaria. Proyecto de Diversificación Productiva. Serie B, 5, 35p. Ronco, B.L. 1985. El oidio del alcaucil, nueva enfermedad para la República Argentina. II Congreso Latinoamericano de Fitopatología, Tomo I, Micología. Zembo, J.C. 1996. El cultivo del alcaucil en el Gran La Plata. Boletín Hortícola. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias y Forestales, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, 4(11):10-17.
Figures
Cuyo Zone, San Juan and Mendoza Provinces
Rosario, Santa Fe Province La Plata, Buenos Aires Province
Fig. 1. Main production areas of globe artichoke in Argentina
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Fig. 2. Mean monthly entry of globe artichoke in the Buenos Aires Central Market Series 1985-1996).
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Fig. 3. Mean monthly price of artichokes in the Buenos Aires Central Market (Series 1985-1995).
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Fig. 4. Francés.
Fig. 5. Ñato.
Fig. 6. Precoz Italiano.
Fig. 7. Blanco.
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