The Faculty of Agronomy of the University of Buenos Aires (UBA) registered in the National Institute of Seeds of Argentina (INASE), its first variety of blueberry, which was selected from among 20 thousand genotypes evaluated in the Program of Improvement of the Chair of Genetics of the UBA, in collaboration with the Tucuman company EarlyCrop.

The variety called Naike (autumn flower, in Mapuche) was generated after a long process of crosses, evaluations and improvement, where the main objective was to obtain a cultivar suitable for the Argentine agroecological reality and above all, with capacities to face the long postharvest stage on its way to distant markets.

Naike's qualities

The new variety concentrates a high production in the counter-season period with the northern hemisphere, it stands out for the firmness of its fruits and has obtained twice the yield in the area of ​​Tucumán, compared to other areas of the country. In addition, according to tests carried out by tasters in tastings, the Naike variety has stood out for offering a very good taste to consumption, which makes it very competitive in demanding markets.

It is not usual for the UBA, being a public entity, to be related to private companies in the research of commercial crops.

In this regard, Pablo Peralta Roa, academic of the FAUBA Chair of Genetics, explains:

"The company has the power of variety and we are equipping ourselves with technology at the Faculty of Agronomy to be able to multiply it on a large scale and then deliver it for commercialization".

Are you working on new cultivars?

• The Department of Genetics is working on it. In general, we work with forages, citrus fruits and ornamentals, but we have several selections in blueberries with different characteristics, some of greater caliber, greater resistance to frost or greater fruit firmness.
  
  Of the 20 thousand genotypes that we are evaluating, we have several selections and we plan to register two more varieties at the end of this year, or at the beginning of next. With better performance qualities and a larger caliber. One of these cultivars will adapt better to the productive zone of Entre Ríos and the other has qualities of greater tolerance to frost, also typical of that region.

What is your feeling that this first Argentine blueberry variety is named after your daughter?

• It is a tremendous pride for me and it arose because the executives of the company we work with suggested that I baptize the variety. It was when my wife was just pregnant with our daughter, but we already had her chosen name for a long time. It is a great pride, I repeat.

The program

Pablo Peralta Roa comments that they have been working on blueberries in the Breeding Program since 2009 and that last year they made the decision to register this variety in INSE.

“In the Program we are looking for a variety that adapts to our climate, that has a good flavor, a higher yield, because currently we only reach 6.5 tons per hectare, which is very low compared to the 10 or 13 tons in other countries of the region, but above all we are concerned with obtaining a cultivar that ensures a long postharvest life, ”says Roa.

FAUBA's Improvement Program is developed both in the Tucumán region and in the province of Buenos Aires.

The genetic material of the type Southern highbush It is selected in Sargento Moya, south of San Miguel de Tucumán, based on the attributes or qualities of adaptability to local agroecological conditions, and in Buenos Aires, micropropagation and generation of new materials is carried out from the extracted seeds.