Performance of 'Emerald' and 'Jewel' blueberry cultivars under no-chill incidence

Abstract

Climate is a limiting factor for cultivating blueberries in new areas in Brazil, being the commercial production restricted only to the colder and high-altitude regions of the southern states. This study aimed to evaluate the performance of low-chill requirement 'Emerald' and 'Jewel' blueberry cultivars. For that, the stages of vegetative growth, sprouting, flowering fruiting and yield were assessed. The 'Emerald' cultivar has two peaks for both flowering and fruiting, with the main harvest period occurring between August and October, while the 'Jewel' cultivar shows two peaks for budding, but only one flowering peak and only one harvest, which extends from October through January. For both cultivars, the production occurs during the off-season of the internal and external markets, resulting in higher fruit prices. Growing both cultivars is feasible in a subtropical region with no-chill incidence, thus demonstrating that these cultivars have much lower chill requirements than those referred to in the literature, and favoring, this way, the fresh fruit production during the off-season of the main producing countries in the northern hemisphere.

Leaching losses from blueberries grown in sandy soils amended with pine bark

“…Marino, Williamson, Olmstead, and Harmon (2014) reported an initial root/shoot ratio of 0.98 and 0.96 for Emerald and Jewel, respectively, but 1 yr after establishment in the field, the shoot growth exceeded root growth to result in a root/shoot ratio of 0.26 for Emerald and 0.25 for Jewel. Although Emerald grew less than Jewel under our conditions, a field estimate of yield of 2,348 kg ha −1 for Emerald and 1,039 kg ha −1 for Jewel did not suggest a lower performance from Emerald (Medina, Cantuarias‐Aviles, Angolini, & da Silva, 2018). In another field study in California, Emerald yields were initially higher than Jewel during the first year of production, but the yield during the next 2 yr from Jewel surpassed that of Emerald (Bremer et al., 2008).…”

Potential of Brazilian berries in developing innovative, healthy, and sustainable food products

“…There is a lot of effort and investment to increase the production of imported berries in Brazil, but with many challenges due to the little or no adaptation of these plants to our climate, as is the case of blueberries which are only protable due to their high market value. 23 Brazilian berries possess unique botanical characteristics, since their botanical families have evolved within the biomes they inhabit, and most of them are endemic, i.e., only naturally occurring in Brazilian biomes. Brazilian berries belong to various botanical families, each with its own distinct characteristics.…”

“…There is a lot of effort and investment to increase the production of imported berries in Brazil, but with many challenges due to the little or no adaptation of these plants to our climate, as is the case of blueberries which are only profitable due to their high market value. 23…”

Bio-Packaging Material Impact on Blueberries Quality Attributes under Transport and Marketing Conditions

“…Consumer preferences, especially in mature markets such as USA, Europe, and Oceania, tend to be shifting toward fresher fruit products, including frozen fruit. In this respect, worldwide blueberry production has shown a marked increase over the last 20 years, reaching 552,000 tons in 2016 [ 19 ]. Because of their seasonality, fresh blueberries are alternately produced both in the Northern and Southern Hemisphere.…”