In the United States, blueberries are the second-most produced berry. Their popularity has grown exponentially in the past 30 years, from 45,000 tons grown in the 1990s to 339,000 tons in 2019.
Now, researchers from the USDA Agricultural Research Service are working hard to help farmers keep up with the demand.
Researchers at the Horticultural Crops Production and Genetic Improvement Research (HPCGIR) Unit in Corvallis, OR, are developing new cultivars of not just blueberry, but also blackberry, red raspberry, black raspberry, and strawberry to meet the needs of growers in the Pacific Northwest.
Claire Luby, plant geneticist with HCPGIR: “In blueberry, we focus on improving the shelf life of fruit so that it reaches consumers with consistently better texture and flavor. This also means developing new types of blueberries that are easier to harvest using mechanical harvesting equipment.”
But perhaps a larger challenge for Luby and her colleagues is developing a cultivar that is resistant to a disease known to be a scourge of the berry: blueberry shock virus. “We’re studying diverse blueberry plants to understand the genetic basis for blueberry shock virus, which can significantly impact yields for farmers,” she said. “Our hope is to use the insights from this project to develop new cultivars that are resistant, or at least more tolerant to, the disease.”
Blueberry shock virus has caused annual crop losses of 34-90% in the Pacific Northwest.
Source: tellus.ars.usda.gov
