Annual Cherimoya Meeting

California Cherimoya Association Annual Meeting

10 AM, Sunday, April 13, 2014

The Annual Meeting will be held at Hanson Agricultural Center (formerly Faulkner Farms) on the corner of Briggs Rd. and Telephone Rd. in Santa Paula. (14292 W. Telegraph Rd., Santa Paula.)   Parking is on Briggs Rd, around the corner

Annual Meeting Admission will be $20.  Admission includes:

 1. BBQ lunch catered by Sparky's    2.  1 year CCA membership

We need payment by Thursday, April 10, so we know how many meals to order.

Send payment in check, money order, or wampum, (please no Bitcoin) to:  Dario Grossberger, 6301 Worth Way, Camarillo, CA 93012.  Payment can also be made by PayPal to dario@earthlink.net.

Meeting Agenda

9:30 to 10 AM.  Arrival and Registration.

10 to 10:15 AM.  CCA Business

10:15 to 11:15 AM.  Nino Cupaiuolo and Ben Faber will discuss cherimoya pollination.

For good yields and quality cherimoya in California must be hand pollinated.  Ben Faber is a UC Cooperative Extension Farm Advisor who for many years has had an interest in cherimoya and has supported the efforts of the CCA.  He visited Spain recently and discussed with researchers their work on pruning cherimoya as a way of controlling time of blooming, and therefore also time of harvest.

Nino Cupaiuolo has been a cherimoya grower and CCA member and Officer for many years.  He will discuss his pollination procedures and observations made from pollination done last Summer.

11:15 to 11:45 PM.  Dario Grossberger will describe efforts to produce a seedless cherimoya

It's not possible to eat a cherimoya and not wonder how one might develop a variety without seeds.  Dario Grossberger is a cherimoya grower and current CCA President.  There are indeed such efforts under way, and Dario will make a summary of current progress with the seedless cherimoya

11:45 to 12:30 PM.  BBQ Lunch catered by Sparky's.

12:30 to 1:30 PM.  Scott Van Der Kar will discuss cherimoya pruning

Cherimoya pruning is essential each year to improve cherimoya yield and quality.  Scott Van Der Kar is a cherimoya grower, CCA member and Officer, and past CCA President.  He will describe how he prunes cherimoya trees.

1:30 to 2 PM.  Raj Desai and Dario Grossberger will describe 21 varieties of cherimoya from Spain

Fruit varieties are always of utmost importance to all fruit.  California has developed a set of varieties, most of which are in the collection in Irvine.  However, Spain made a major effort, and amassed more than 300 varieties in their collection.  They agreed to send 21 of these varieties, selected as the most promising, to California for evaluation.  Raj Desai, a cherimoya grower, and Dario, each planted an exemplar of each of these varieties in their orchards.  They will describe what they have observed to date on the performance of these varieties.

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