Scanning Report Y3 on "Berries Variety Testing"

The members of the Cooperation of producers Martell (MEG), for its part member of the Federation of Vinschgau Fruit and Vegetable Producers (VI.P), grow berries on a total of 50ha, situated on 1.000-1.700 masl.
Regarding strawberries, cultivated on ca. 35ha, the varieties Elsanta and Darselect are prevailing. Neither of these varieties are particularly suited for the high altitudes of the Martell valley. To find more suitable varieties for this region, a research field for strawberries is being created in the MEG area. Regarding the production systems, 30% of the MEG-area is still cultivated on traditional fields, whereas 70% of the strawberries are cultivated with rain- and weed-cover (double-cover).
On 6ha of the Martell valley, raspberries are cultivated. The main varieties of raspberries grown are Polka, Tulameen, Glen Ample, Amira, and others. The main varieties of blueberries grown are Duke and Berkeley. Blueberries are cultivated in pots and on a total of 2ha, and blackberries, cultivated on 1ha of the MEG-area only, are grown as hedges. In this case, the cultivated varieties are Loch Ness and Novaho.
In the last couple of years, the harvest of berries decreased due to spring frosts and invasive pests such as Drosophila suzukii, which both pose very big problems to the berry-farmers. In addition, the rural exodus caused some of the decrease. Alpine farming poses a lot of challenges to the farmers in general, and for producers of soft fruits and berries in particular. Steep fields, high altitudes and no varieties particularly suited for these regions make farming challenging. Thus, more support, manpower and expertise for the berry-variety breeding and testing are needed. Another challenge is logistics: the fields are very far from the cities, which makes the transportation and the marketing of the fruits very difficult. Finally, South Tyrolean producers of soft fruits are lacking expertise and funding. If subsidized, however, berries provide a big potential for the zones, which are situated above 1.000 masl, where apples can’t be produced. As such, the cultivation of soft fruits can provide an alternative to rural exodus, as it can be a vista for the rural communities in general and to farmers in particular.

Documents

Scanning Report Y3 on "Berries Variety Testing" (English) German summary in document

Details

Activity type

Publication of scanning report

Activity work package

Performance of new fruit varieties

Activity number

SKST-WP2-A52

Activity contact

Markus Bradlwarter
Variety Innovation Consortium South Tyrol
Jakobistraße 1/A
39018 Terlan
Italy
[email protected]

Activity partner

Variety Innovation Consortium South Tyrol

Activity country

Italy

Last edit

19-07-2019