The client is a large-scale, modern cherry producer located in Chile’s Central Valley, operating a vast 200-hectare orchard. They specialize in growing premium cherry varieties like Regina and Kordia, which are primarily exported to the highly demanding markets in Asia.

In these markets, fruit size, sweetness (Brix level), and overall appearance are critical factors that determine price and sales volume. Therefore, ensuring every cherry meets the highest export standards is the core of the client’s operation.

The Challenge

Despite employing advanced management techniques, the client was persistently troubled by a fundamental, climate-related issue: Insufficient Winter Chilling.

Intense daytime sun in the Chilean winter would prematurely warm the trees, disrupting their necessary low-temperature dormancy and causing a series of negative chain reactions:

• A Prolonged and Chaotic Bloom: The flowering period across the orchard was stretched out over 20-25 days. Different trees, and even different blossoms on the same tree, would open at uncoordinated times, severely impacting the efficiency and uniformity of pollination.
• Inconsistent Fruit Quality: Poor pollination directly led to subpar fruit development, resulting in a high percentage of small fruit with an average size of only 26mm (Large grade), making it difficult to meet the premium export standard of Jumbo grade (28mm+).
• Low Export-Grade Pack-Out: Ultimately, only 72% of the fruit could meet the export standard. A large portion of the harvest was downgraded due to size or quality issues, causing significant profit loss.
• High Operational Costs: Because the fruit did not mature uniformly, workers had to perform as many as three separate harvest passes across the entire orchard, dramatically increasing the already high cost of labor.

EyouAgro’s Solution

After a thorough analysis of the client’s pain points, EyouAgro’s team of experts proposed an innovative solution based on physical environmental modification, rather than traditional chemical or hormonal methods: deploying the EyouAgro Woven Winter Chilling Net.

• The Core Principle: This specialized woven net is designed to shield dormant cherry trees from excess sunlight during the winter. This reduces daytime temperature spikes, maintaining a more consistent and prolonged low-temperature environment and ensuring the trees receive a sufficient, high-quality “sleep.”
• Precise Implementation: We deployed the solution across a 50-hectare core block of the client’s orchard. Every panel of netting was custom-sized according to the orchard’s row spacing and topography to ensure optimal coverage and durability.
• A Strategic Trial: This 50-hectare deployment was more than just an implementation; it was a large-scale commercial trial designed to prove the immense value of this investment with undeniable data.

The Result & Value

After one full season, the changes brought by the Winter Chilling Net were revolutionary. Every key metric showed astounding improvement:

• A More Concentrated Bloom Laid the Foundation for a Bountiful Harvest: The bloom period was dramatically shortened from 20-25 days to just 10-12 days—a concentration increase of approximately 50%. This meant pollination across the orchard was highly synchronized, creating the perfect conditions for uniform, high-quality fruit development.
• Bigger, Sweeter Fruit Multiplied Value: The average fruit size increased from 26mm (Large) to 28.5mm (Jumbo), successfully moving up an entire size category. Simultaneously, the average Brix level rose from 16.5 to 18.2, meaning the cherries were sweeter and more flavorful, perfectly meeting the strict demands of high-end Asian markets.
• Export-Grade Pack-Out Soared, Profits Grew: The pack-out rate of premium fruit jumped from 72% to 84%, a massive 12-point increase. This meant a much larger proportion of the harvest could be sold at a higher price, directly translating into significant profit growth.
• Operational Efficiency Increased, Costs Dropped: The highly uniform maturation of the fruit reduced the number of harvest passes from three to two, resulting in a direct 33% savings in harvest labor—a huge cost reduction.

Quantifiable Results

Conclusion

For top-tier agricultural producers, the real challenges often stem from environmental factors that seem impossible to change.

EyouAgro is dedicated to providing clients with powerful tools to challenge nature and optimize growth through innovative agro-textile technology.

By deploying the Winter Chilling Net, we not only solved a long-standing horticultural problem for this Chilean cherry giant but also proved, with a series of quantifiable data points, that this is a strategic investment that directly enhances fruit value, lowers operational costs, and delivers an exceptional return.