The “La Palma” Experimental Station of the School of Agronomy of the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso has 60 hectares of planted land, appropriate infrastructure, trained technical and professional personnel that allow it to develop various activities related to research, workshops, extension and teaching, of the School of Agronomy, as well as programs developed with other national and international entities. It is implemented with standards of Good Agricultural Practices, and with the necessary facilities to achieve an appropriate production. Subtropical fruit species are kept in it. Highlighting the collections of varieties of custard apples, citrus fruits, medlars and lucumos. It also has deciduous fruit orchards of cherry trees, kiwis and vines.
The Experimental Station has unique germplasm collections in Chile, highlighting gardens of citrus species, with more than 40 varieties. A collection of custard apples with various harvested in the country in 1985, where you can find varieties such as: juniana, juliana, peaked shell, local serena, smooth shell, tanned, and others. There is also a collection of 15 eco types of lucuma planted in 1975 collected from different sectors of the country, where rosalía, montero, leiva, mercy, etc. stand out. In addition to the only collection of avocado varieties, planted in 1976. In 2010, a collection of medlar and cherimoya varieties brought from Spain and Italy was planted. In cherry trees there is a collection of genetic material with promising characteristics that is under study.
Inside the Station there is an orchard managed from the agroecological point of view in conjunction with the vegetable area that has an experimental plot of 1 ha where research is carried out in that area as in traditional cultivation.
