"The Planasa blueberry varieties are ideal for the climatic regions of southern Africa and some of the very cool evergreen types will be suitable for tropical regions such as Zambia and Kenya," says Pieter Zietsman, Blueberry Specialist at TopFruit. He adds that these varieties are already widely planted in southern Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Peru and Mexico with very good production of quality fruit.

Very low cold blueberry varieties The varieties

Planasa have already been authorized for commercial planting in Zimbabwe, where some 50ha have been planted over the past two years.

In the Aussenkehr Valley in southern Namibia, best known for its table grapes, the first fruits of the Planasa test varieties established at Silverlands Farm are currently being harvested.

"These blueberry varieties will be planted at 14 different test sites in South Africa in September this year to test and assess the potential in different climatic zones," explains Pieter. “All Planasa varieties have been shown to produce large volumes of quality fruit with very good storage capacities and shelf life. These varieties are expected to start cultivation from July in the early regions until the end of November in the later regions, depending on the region. "

Planasa is an international group of companies that leads the development of new berry varieties to meet the needs of producers and consumers in different markets, says TopFruit. Planasa mainly produces strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and blueberries, as well as asparagus, garlic and avocados.

“As part of its strategy to be at the top of the world's new blueberry genetics, Planasa developed a range of next-generation blueberry varieties at its nursery in Huelva, Spain, and launched it in 2019. BlueManila, BlueMalibu, BlueMarina , BlueMadeira, BlueMaldiva and BlueMasirah are mostly very cold evergreen varieties.”

Planase Association: A Natural Progression

TopFruit has been introducing new fruit varieties to South Africa from breeders around the world since 1983. The company's goal is to discover and unlock the potential of these varieties for South African growers, achieved through variety development. , a strong program of intellectual property management, branding and innovative marketing initiatives, the company notes.

“The licensing of the Planasa blueberry varieties is a natural progression of expanding our berry variety offering to southern African growers,” he adds, noting that TopFruit has a unique licensing model in terms of cultivation. de berries: all growers can plant and market their licensed varieties through a number of reputable trading companies or undertake private marketing, depending on the variety.