New varieties of blueberries Megasblue and Titanium already available in the international market
The blueberry varieties were developed by the Oregon Blueberry Farm and Nursery in the USA and correspond to Northern Highbush plants. The internationalization and commercialization of the genetic material will be in the hands of the company specialized in intellectual property of berry and asparagus varieties, Global Plant Genetics, who have already begun to visit different countries in the world to publicize these varieties.
Rupert Hargreaves, partner and director of Global Plant Genetics spoke to Fruit Portal to comment on more details about these two new varieties that promise to give a new look to an industry that has been affected this season by low prices and excess supply.
“We represent several breeding programs in the world (breeding programs), but this one in particular is with Oregon Blueberry Farm and Nursery, who have developed these new two varieties and we are going to take care of the genetic reproduction of plants and sell them all over the world ”.
Hargreaves commented that they have just begun to internationalize the varieties receiving great interest from all over the world.
"I have just returned from Chile, where I had meetings with 19 companies interested in acquiring licenses for these varieties".
“In Chile we have already closed the business with an exclusive company, and we have also been in meetings in Peru, Argentina and the USA. these last 3 weeks ”, Dijo.
For Hargreaves, this is the first stage of commercialization, where it remains to be seen how the varieties behave in the different production areas, at different altitudes and climates.
"In U.S.A. we have seen very promising results of these varieties compared to the traditional ones, but we still have to see how they perform in other countries ”.
The GPG representative also says that the future of the industry is to look for new varieties that taste better, so that the consumer has a better experience when eating them. He also says that one of the challenges of this type of berries is to improve their travel capacity.
"I think these two factors are the most crucial for the development of blueberries internationally".
In Europe, and due to the cold requirements of the plants, it is intended to be marketed in northern countries such as the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Germany.
Megasblue® Features
Hargreaves says that this variety is a light blue color with a large size berry, very firm and with very good quality.
"Its cold requirements are at least 1.000 hours (of cold) a year and it is a mid-season variety".
From Oregon Blueberry Farm (OBF) they also emphasize that the plant has a consistent yield and that it can be harvested both manually and with machines, it also requires less harvesting work, which allows producers to lower costs.
Titanium® Features
"This is an early variety, which leaves about a week after Duke, is a large-sized berry with a color similar to Megasblue, with a bittersweet taste, uniform ripening and is stored extremely well".
"It also needs at least 1.000 cold hours a year."
Likewise, from OBF they emphasize that this variety is not only recommended for the fresh market, but also for processing and IQF (Individual Quick Freezing by its acronym in English).
Photos: Oregon Blueberry Farm and Nursery
Source: Portalfruticola.com
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