Safe-D is used for soft fruit applications such as table grapes, cherries, raspberries, blueberries, blackcurrants among others. It is a thin-thick plastic film that bears three distinct reinforced sections lengthways. It has exceptional strength at the points were stresses and strains are extreme. Its binding points that are located at the reinforced sections are employed to tie the film on the metallic structure. The vineyard film has exceptional wear resistance and can be used for several seasons exposed to the sun, due to its specially designed binding points, the gradual variation of its thickness and the special stabilizers that it contains. Moreover, the raw materials used for its production form an IR filter resulting to a considerable temperature decrease of the order of 4 to 6 oC during the day although the temperature is held at 2 to 4 oC higher during the night compared to the ambient temperature. These temperature differences are of particular interest improving the quality of the fruit and protecting the crop from damaging temperature variations. Furthermore, soft fruit cultivations are protected from harsh weather conditions (rain, hail etc.). Employing Safe-D allows the extension of the harvesting period, the assurance of the quality leading to a considerable increase of the growers’ income. At the end of the season Safe-D can be collected from the field, stored and used again for consecutive seasons.
There are several variants of the product depending on the needs of the cultivation, the number of years for which the use of the film is intended as well as whether ventilation of the covered space is required or not. For the latter case Daios Plastics has developed and patented Safe-D Ventoâ a specialized soft fruit protector that bears covered ventilation holes at the middle section of the film, thus allowing ventilation of the covered space and dissipation of the wind pressure.
