MARCH 2018 • COUNTRY LIFE IN BC
21 Research money key to berry sector’s future
New varieties needed to keep pace with the market
by PETER MITHAM ABBOTSFORD – BC is the
world’s third biggest producer of blueberries, the International Blueberry Organization (IBO) reports, producing 72,800 tonnes of fruit in 2016. Together with Chile at 125,300 tonnes and the US at 258,600 tonnes, BC is part of a trifecta producing more than half the estimated 700,000 tonnes of berries harvested worldwide last year. While the growth of the BC
industry has been rapid, Cort Brazelton, co-founder of the IBO and director, business development, at Fall Creek Farm & Nursery Inc., in Lowell, Oregon told growers attending the Pacific Agriculture Show at the end of January that what boosted the industry in the past needs to change in the future. “What got us here is not going to get us there,” he said in a presentation on global blueberry production and trends. Growth in production is
slowing, at least in North America, which produces 82% of the world’s frozen blueberries. Chile, by contrast, focuses on the fresh market, allowing it to stand out in a world where stockpiles are high.
Brazelton urged the
development of new varieties, improved management systems and the adoption of technological innovations to support ongoing market development. With the opening of the
Canadian Agricultural Partnership (CAP) to funding applications in February, hopes are high that additional funds will be available for variety development in BC. The province is home to the second most-northerly blueberry breeding program in the world. Berry breeder Michael Dossett of BC Berry Cultivar Development Inc. told growers attending the Pacific Agriculture Show that he expects funding for berry research will increase under the CAP. While an agreement between BC and the federal government regarding the details of the federal- provincial agreement has yet to be signed, work is continuing in anticipation of the next round of funding. Eric Gerbrandt of Sky Blue
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Horticulture Ltd. and retired provincial berry specialist Mark Sweeney have been contracted to write the application, which Anju Gill and Lisa Craig are co-ordinating on behalf of the province’s three berry industry groups. All going well, research shouldn’t be disrupted between the end of Growing Forward 2 at the end of March and the launch of the CAP. “The plan is we will keep operating under the assumption that the program will continue,” Dossett told Country Life in BC.“We’re getting our application together … so we can submit it as soon as the program is announced.”
BC is the world's third-biggest producer of high-bush blueberries. FILE PHOTO Weather hurts 2017 blueberry yields
ABBOTSFORD – BC blueberry growers may have been able to take advantage of a short crop in 2017 to capture higher prices, but former BC Ministry of Agriculture berry specialist Mark Sweeney told growers at the Pacific Agriculture Show in January that yields could have been a lot worse. Sweeney explained how the exceptionally early 2016
crop saw many bushes wind down and shoot growth stop earlier than usual. By the end of October, bud initiation on one-year-old
wood had occurred and the bushes were ready to go for the next season.
But the long winter nap ended when a blast of warm
weather hit in November. The bushes woke up for a round of late-season growth. It was cut short by the harsh winter that followed in December, meaning that budset didn’t complete, nor did it resume when spring actually came. “It’s incredible things didn’t work out worse than they
did,” Sweeney said. Weather conditions in fall 2017 were more favourable,
and Sweeney expects a more normal budset in spring 2018. Bluecrop is the one worry, Sweeney said, advising lighter pruning this spring to ensure yields meet expectations. “You need to know what’s going on in your fields to make those calls,” he said.
—Peter Mitham
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