IX Field Day and XI Technical Tour: Three days to follow the innovations transforming pome fruit production in Brazil
From January 20 to 22, 2026, growers, researchers, and industry companies gathered in São Joaquim, Lages, and Vacaria to participate in the IX Field Day on Rootstocks from the CG Series and the XI Technical Tour—one of the most important events in Brazilian pome fruit production. Organized and promoted by key industry partners — including Agromillora Produção — the event has become a unique space for connecting science, fieldwork, and innovation.
Created a few years ago, the Field Day was born with a clear mission: to bring the latest research advances on Geneva Series rootstocks to the production sector. According to the event’s founder, Professor Leo Rufato, it all started in a simple way: “The event emerged from the idea of showing people the progress we were making with the Geneva Series rootstocks and giving visibility to the work the university had been developing.”
Over time, the initiative grew — significantly. The expansion of experimental fields installed by the university across different companies in southern Brazil boosted both the quality and scope of the data. Today, Brazil hosts the largest Geneva Series experimental network in the world, with more than 30 trials spread across all apple‑producing regions, from Guarapuava to Caxias do Sul. This relevance has increasingly attracted international attention. “Researchers from Italy, Spain, Chile, Mexico, and Uruguay are coming to see this series of experiments and their interactions,” Rufato highlights.
The integration with the Technical Tour, an initiative created by Jean Franco, further broadened the event’s scope by incorporating topics such as orchard training systems, machinery, plant growth regulators, management practices, and sustainability. The result is a comprehensive program that combines theory and practice in a way rarely seen in the sector. “It’s a different kind of event because it brings theory together with practice: we’re able to take 350 people per day into the field to visit the experiments while also promoting scientific discussions in the auditorium,” Rufato explains.
The 2026 edition reached historic numbers: around 900 participants, five properties visited, and more than twenty technical stations in the field. For the organizers, this milestone is only possible thanks to strong collaboration between the university, growers, and companies. “Agromillora is a key partner, bringing researchers from around the world and helping gather high‑level knowledge in a single event,” Rufato states.
In addition to presentations and technical visits, the 2026 Field Day highlighted new solutions and innovations in machinery, harvesting platforms, smart sprayers, training systems, and advances in the use of Geneva rootstocks — including alternatives developed to address challenges related to G.213.
With this new edition, the Field Day and the Technical Tour solidify their position as the largest applied fruit‑growing event in Brazil, reinforcing their strategic importance for the technological and productive advancement of pome fruit cultivation in the country.
