The 11th Encontro Nacional Produtores de Mirtilo was held on Friday, October 28, in Sever do Vouga, Portugal's blueberry capital, where the first blueberry plant was introduced in 1990 at Fundação Bernardo Barbosa de Quadros.
The conference was held in 6 sessions, opened by Minister of Agriculture Maria di Céu Antunes, and then covered various topics: from the origins of blueberry cultivation in Portugal, through analysis of data and future trends thanks to a comprehensive report by Jorge Esquivel (Blueberry Consulting) with moderation by Pedro Bras de Oliveira (Iniav I.P.).
The third session was introduced by Luigi Bianchi who presented the 40th edition of Macfrut with a focus onInternational Blueberry Days.
The fourth part of the conference covered topics such as fertilizers, technologies, protection, and everything needed in the field to produce fruit in the best possible way, limiting damage from adverse conditions.
The session was then devoted to water resources to optimize water use efficiency also through conservation technologies for this precious resource.
From production we then moved on to quality control, preservation and marketing of blueberry enhancing and taking into consideration the needs and preferences of consumers.
More than three hundred delegates in attendance, 21 sponsors for an annual event that is growing in importance to cross national borders and welcome delegates from countries such as Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, France, Chile and Peru.
