Kiwifruit flourishing in northern Greece 猕猴桃在希腊北部蓬勃发展

Kiwifruit flourishing in northern Greece 猕猴桃在希腊北部蓬勃发展

Big fans of Zespri, farmers have had the vines in their orchards for up to 40 years already.作为佳沛（Zespri）的忠实粉丝，果农们已经在果园里种植这种葡萄藤长达40年了。

Harvest time. Kiwifruit pickers in action.

It’s the farmer’s curse wherever in the world you are: it doesn’t rain for weeks but chucks it down when you least want it.无论身处世界的哪个角落，这都是农民们常常抱怨的事：一连几周滴雨不下，偏偏在最不需要雨的时候，大雨倾盆而下。

So it was for Greek kiwifruit grower Kostas Kallitsis earlier this month. He was relieved after two days of rain to get a team of pickers back into his 9.5 hectare crop of Green kiwifruit.本月早些时候，希腊猕猴桃种植者科斯塔斯·卡利蒂斯（Kostas Kallitsis）也经历了同样的情况。在连续两天的降雨后，他终于松了一口气，因为采摘队得以重新进入他9.5公顷的绿猕猴桃果园。

His Katerini orchard sits south of Thessaloniki, between the Thracian Sea and Olympus mountains in northern Greece.他的卡泰里尼果园位于塞萨洛尼基以南，希腊北部的色雷斯海和奥林匹斯山脉之间。

His family has been growing kiwifruit since 1987 and he supplies Zespri. In 2018 he was one of the first to trial Zespri SunGold.他的家人自1987年起便开始种植猕猴桃，并且他向佳沛（Zespri）公司供货。2018年，他成为首批试种佳沛阳光金奇异果（Zespri SunGold）的人之一。

Such was its success, yielding about 50t/ha, he has approval to plant 2ha next year, and hopes to eventually grow 3ha.由于种植非常成功，每公顷产量约50吨，他已获准明年种植2公顷，并希望最终能种植3公顷。

Greek kiwifruit grower Kostas Kallitsis and Iasonas Zacharis, Zespri orchard programmes specialist, inspect a Green crop in Kallitsis’ orchard.希腊猕猴桃种植者科斯塔斯·卡利蒂斯（Kostas Kallitsis）和佳沛果园项目专家伊阿索纳斯·扎卡里斯（Iasonas Zacharis）在卡利蒂斯的果园里检查绿色作物。
His oldest Green vines were on track to yield 25/t a hectare this year, slightly back on the regional average of 30t/ha and what he has produced in recent years.他最老的那批绿藤今年有望每公顷产出25吨，略低于该地区每公顷30吨的平均产量，也低于他近年来的产量。

The fruit is also slightly smaller than last year, but the average Brix is 7.5%.果实的个头也比去年略小，但平均糖度为7.5%。

Reliable weather has not required vines to be covered but Kallitsis said the climate is changing, with more heavy weather events, so he will cover his commercial SunGold crop.以往气候稳定，葡萄藤无需遮盖，但卡利蒂斯表示，气候正在发生变化，恶劣天气事件增多，因此他将为他的商品化黄金太阳葡萄（SunGold）作物提供遮盖。

Winters can be cold in Katerini, with 1000 to 1200 chilling hours, which Kallitsis said is ideal for Green and will also suit SunGold.卡泰里尼的冬季十分寒冷，有1000至1200小时的寒冷时间，卡利蒂斯（Kallitsis）表示，这对于绿皮（Green）品种来说非常理想，也适合黄金太阳（SunGold）品种。

The soil is 60% sand, 40% silt and 1.5% organic matter.土壤由60%的沙、40%的粉土和1.5%的有机质组成。

Harvested kiwifruit in the Greek orchard of Kostas Kallitsis.在科斯塔斯·卡利蒂斯的希腊果园里收获的猕猴桃。
“It’s not the best in Greece, but it’s pretty decent,” he said.“虽然不是希腊最好的，但也相当不错，”他说。

The region has a history of growing apples, olives, grapes, arable crops and vegetables with kiwifruit grown for 40 years, the longest in Greece.该地区有种植苹果、橄榄、葡萄、可耕地作物和蔬菜的传统，猕猴桃的种植历史长达40年，是希腊种植时间最长的。

The 36-year-old also grows strawberries and table grapes.这位36岁的种植者还种植草莓和鲜食葡萄。

Irrigation comes from bores and Kallitsis said local authorities are starting to impose restrictions on its use. It is unclear what that will mean for his orchard.灌溉水源来自钻井，卡利蒂西斯（Kallitsis）表示，当地政府正开始对其使用施加限制。目前尚不清楚这对他的果园将意味着什么。

Like many other European Green kiwifruit growers, Kallitsis is a supplier to both Zespri and other markets.与许多其他欧洲绿色猕猴桃种植者一样，卡利蒂斯既是佳沛的供应商，也是其他市场的供应商。

To supply Zespri, he is required to adhere to the same quality control standards and monitoring as growers in New Zealand, with Zespri taking only his very best fruit.为了向佳沛（Zespri）供货，他必须遵守与新西兰种植者相同的质量控制标准和监测要求，因为佳沛只收购他最好的水果。

Twelve years ago, prior to supplying Zespri with Green kiwifruit, he was receiving about €30-40c/kg. Now it is about €1.10/kg.十二年前，在向佳沛（Zespri）供应绿奇异果之前，他的收购价是每公斤30-40欧分。现在则是每公斤1.10欧元左右。

Interest in growing kiwifruit, especially SunGold, is reflected in demand for land in Katerini, with suitable bare land selling for €30,000 to €40,000/ha. It costs another €50,000/ha to establish an orchard.对种植猕猴桃，尤其是黄金奇异果（SunGold）的兴趣，反映在卡泰里尼对土地的需求上，适合种植的裸地售价为每公顷3万至4万欧元。而建立果园的成本则为每公顷5万欧元。

Nikos Adamidis has one of Greece’s oldest kiwifruit orchards, established in 1984 when his father replaced an apple orchard.尼科斯·阿迪米迪斯拥有希腊最古老的猕猴桃果园之一，该果园于1984年建立，当时他的父亲将一片苹果园改造成了猕猴桃园。

Today Nikos Adamidis grows about 12ha of Green kiwifruit in Katerini, which stems from his father’s decision to grow something new.如今，尼科斯·阿迪米迪斯（Nikos Adamidis）在卡泰里尼（Katerini）种植了约12公顷的绿色猕猴桃，这源于他父亲种植新品种的决定。