In search of the perfect blueberry

02/11/2016

El Serida has already achieved ten new varieties of the fruit, adapted to the Cantabrian cornice and cultivated since September.

«We make more than 120 crosses per year, but there is still a lot«says Juanjo Ferreira, head of the Plant Genetics Area.

Studies on the change of varieties through blueberry grafting have led the Regional Agri-Food Research and Development Service (Serida) to become a global benchmark. In fact, their work currently makes it possible to reduce the time it takes to exchange the oldest for the newest types of fruit from six to two years. «It has never been done with cranberry before«explains Juan Carlos García Rubio, technician from the Agroforestry Experimentation and Demonstration Area.

The team also works to grow blueberries from a single trunk, as is the case of the apple tree. That would facilitate the mechanical harvest, very developed in America, and reduce the losses of the harvest, usually 25%.

These investigations are added to the genetic improvement program, in which they have been working for six years. In that time, researchers have managed to create up to ten new potential varieties of this fruit. «We make more than 120 crosses per year, but there is still a lot left. It's a long job«explains Juanjo Ferreira, in charge of the area. These new types of blueberries have been designed to adapt to the Cantabrian Coast and, in addition, are extra-late in nature, meaning they can be grown from September onwards. To achieve this advance in Serida they work with 86 different commercial varieties. «We see what their behavior is so that farmers make the best decisions«Adds Ferreira.

Visit from Portugal

All these investigations were shared with a group of technicians and farmers from the Association of Small Fruits and Business Innovation of Server do Vouga (Portugal) who visited the facilities. «We want to visit a reality different from ours to try to collect as much information as possible. In addition, here they have in common with us the inclination of the land«said Silvia Lemos, one of the visitors.

Source: Elcomercio.es