Performing Department
Horticulture
Non Technical Summary
Blueberries have become an important alternative crop for many farmers in south Georgia. In the past two decades, Georgia blueberry acreage has increased from 3500 acres to well over 12,000 acres, with an annual farm gate value soon expected to exceed $100 million. Georgia blueberry acreage is expected to continue increasing in the next 5 to 10 years; however, growers are facing many challenges. Many of the older orchards are declining in production and consist of antiquated varieties. Newer orchards have challenging issues with regards to rapid establishment. In the past, growers could expect to wait up to 5 years for an orchard to reach commercial production levels. However, in today's market, growers are challenged to achieve meaningful production in 3 years or less. Some of the market windows for Georgia growers currently yield high prices, however, these prices are expected to lower as production increases and growers will need to improve overall production efficiency to remain economically viable. Finally, consumers are currently highly attracted to blueberries due to their many health benefits which have added to the need for increased production. However, to keep consumers interested in the commodity for years to come, high quality fruit needs to be made available, as consumers are becoming increasingly discerning with respect to produce quality. Given the challenges listed above, research and research facilities are needed to keep Georgia blueberry growers, old and new, at the forefront of competitiveness. Projects aimed at developing new cultivars and management practices that increase production efficiency and improve quality of fruit delivered to consumers are planned. Some key areas that will be addressed are: 1) development of mechanical harvested blueberry cultivars to reduce hand-labor needs; 2) development of precocious varieties and production systems that achieve meaningful commercial production in 3 years or less; 3) development of cultivars and production systems that rely less on costly inputs such as frost protection and soil amendments; 4) improvement of fruit quality through new cultivars and development of sound pre- and post-harvest management practices. This initiative will be carried out at the UGA Blueberry Research Farms located near Tifton and Griffin, Georgia. In addition, on-farm trials and demonstrations will be conducted with cooperators in south Georgia. Engagement of the Georgia blueberry industry in the project will yield timely results with the most immediate impact. Growers will readily experience first-hand research results through both UGA Research Farm Field days and on-farm demonstrations.
Animal Health Component
60%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
20%
Applied
60%
Developmental
20%
Goals / Objectives
Blueberries have become an important alternative crop in south Georgia. In the past two decades, Georgia blueberry acreage has increased from 3500 acres to well over 12,000 acres, with a value soon expected to exceed $100 million. Blueberry acreage is expected to continue increasing in the next few years, but, growers are facing many challenges. Older orchards are declining in production and consist of antiquated varieties. Newer orchards have challenging issues with regards to rapid establishment. Some of the market windows for Georgia growers currently yield high prices, however, these prices are expected to lower as production increases and growers will need to improve production efficiency to remain economically viable. High quality fruit needs to be made available, as consumers are becoming increasingly discerning with respect to quality. Research is needed to keep Georgia growers at the forefront of competitiveness. Projects aimed at developing new cultivars and management practices that increase production efficiency and improve quality of fruit delivered to consumers are planned. Specific goals of this project are: 1) development of large fruited rabbiteye cultivars; 2) development of mechanically harvested cultivars; 3) development of late flowering, early ripening southern highbush cultivars; 4) development of vigorous southern highbush cultivars with a wider range of soil adaptability, 5) development of high quality fruit with regards to flavor and storage/shipping. This initiative will help Georgia blueberry growers to improve their production efficiency and quality of product delivered to consumers, which will enhance long-term economic viability of the industry.
Project Methods
This initiative will be carried out at the UGA Blueberry Research Farms located near Tifton and Griffin, Georgia. Field experiments aimed at each objective will be initiated and carried out in replicated plots at the UGA Experiment Station Farms. Detailed observations and ratings of flowering dates, ripening dates, berry size, and berry firmness will be made for various blueberry selections and standard cultivars over the course of the growing season. In some test plots, blueberries will be harvested with a mechanical harvester to determine suitability of the harvest method. In addition, on-farm trials and demonstrations will be conducted with cooperators in south Georgia. Engagement of the Georgia blueberry industry in the project will yield timely results with the most immediate impact. Growers will readily experience first-hand research results through both UGA Research Farm Field days and on-farm demonstrations. In addition to field experiments, laboratory studies related to fruit sizing, firmness, and post-harvest fruit quality will be conducted.