Hei mei, zarzamora, mora, kupina,!

Blackberry Production from a World Perspective

Chad Finn; U.S. Department of Agriculture;

Agricultural Research Service, Corvallis, OR

Characteristics of main blackberry production

areas we might be competing with!
Acreage
Most important cultivars
Typical yield
High yield
Percent of crop to processing
Price
Percent exported
Miscellaneous

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Production of blackberries in the U.S. in 2005, by state. (Strik et al.)

Area
% Change
Production
(acres)
19952005
(tons)
State
Oregon
7,754
25
25,185
California
699
100
2,600
Texas
680
20
800
Arkansas
600
60
1,543
Georgia
314
300
661
Washington
237
100
400
Virginia
200

331
Ohio
175
350
175
North Carolina
151
50
716
Kentucky
111
30
309
Pennsylvania
111
70
120
Illinois
99
25
110
Missouri
99
0
340
New York
99
50
154
Total US
11,906
34
35,097

Thanks to:

Chile- Pilar Banados, Enrique Acevedo

China- Zhang Qinghua, Sing Lui, F. Dong
Mexico- Jose Lopez Medina, Mark Hurst
Serbia- Mihailo Nikolic, Brankica Tanovic, Miloljub
Stanisavljevic
United StatesSoutheast : Josh Bream, Gina Fernandez, Yongjian
Chang
California: Gavin Sills, Ellen Thompson

Caution!!! Did the best I could but!.

Chad: Yield per acre?
Response: 6,000 - 8,000 ton per hectare
Assuming 1 metric ton (=1,000 kg)
Then = 5.4 million pounds/acre????

China
Acreage
Most important cultivars
Typical yield
High yield
Percent of crop to
processing
Price
Percent exported
Miscellaneous

Acreage and production areas

In 2010- 8,000 acres

In 2009- 3,300/5,000 acres removed in Nanjing
Map from Worldpress.com

China
Acreage
Reason for removal of acreage: illegal use of
pesticides that made the crop unsalable

Photos: Qinghua Zhang

China
Most important cultivars
<2005 Hull Thornless, Chester Thornless

!Hull" well adapted and high yielding but #fruit

not so good$ and #fruit tastes not so good and
character for processing was disappointing
and products not welcomed on international
markets$

China
Most important cultivars
<2005 Hull Thornless, Chester Thornless
>2005 Shawnee, Triple Crown, Arapaho
Shawnee, Triple Crown, Arapaho- #good
characteristics for processing and resistant to
pests and diseases$

China
Typical yield
What they say:

Typical Yield
9 metric tons/acre

High Yield
18 metric tons/acre

Which would be:

19,800 pounds/acre

39,600 pounds/acre

What I am guessing 9 metric tons/hectare 18 metric tons/hectare

they mean:
Which is:

4 tons/acre

8 tons/acre

China
Percent of crop to processing
95%
Price
Fresh: 20 yuan RMB/kg= $1.36/lb
Percent exported
#In 2009-2010, 8000 metric tons
exported$
= 17.6 million pounds

Qinghua Zhang

China

Photos: Qinghua Zhang

China

Photos: Qinghua Zhang

Chile
Acreage
Most important cultivars
Typical yield
High yield
Percent of crop to processing
Price
Percent exported
Miscellaneous

Acreage and
production areas
2007

1 ha=2.47 A
1,243 ha= 3,072 A

Maps from Electionworld

Chile
Acreage
#dramatic decline in acreage due to low price of
frozen blackberry and due to the high prices of
raspberry. This season there are very few grower
that kept the blackberry and almost no fruit in the
market. My best guess it that surface area is less
than half of the official numbers .$

Chile
Acreage
Mostly small growers <2.5 acres

Photos: P. Banados

Chile
Production-Trends (based on exports)
Frozen exports from Chile, 1981-2009 (tons)
25,000

Blackberry (Mora)- Wild & cultivated

20,000

Boysenberry
15,000

10,000

5,000

Source: Chilealimentos

Chile
! Bygone scenes!!!

Chile
Most important cultivars:
Wild- About 50% of what is sold as frozen
Cherokee
Black Satin
Chester Thornless
Navaho
Boysen
Marion

Semi-erect; photo P. Banados

Chile
Typical yieldDepends on price. If good pick all!
6.68 tons/acre
High yield
9.80 tons/acre for Black Satin and Cherokee;
less for Boysen and Marion

Chile
Percent of crop to processing
99%
1% internal fresh consumption
Percent exported
99%
#No fresh export in last 3-5 years due to Mexico$

Chile
Price 2009, Chilealimentos
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Chile
Wild!!

Mexico
Acreage
Most important cultivars
Typical yield
High yield
Percent of crop to processing
Price
Percent exported
Miscellaneous

Major production areas

Michoacn 12,350-19,274 A
Jalisco
332-2,470
Colima
143- 1,235
Estimates total:
16,055-29,640 A; 20,085 official

Mexico
Most important cultivars
80-90% Tupy
5-15% Brazos
5%
Sleeping Beauty (Driscolls) and others

Mexico
Typical yield
! Sold in boxes... Typically 12, 6oz clamshells in a 4.5 lb box
! 4,000-6,000 boxes/hectare ~ 5 tons/acre
! Can fruit a second time! probably average 1.25 crops/year,
2nd crop is lower yield and lower average.
High yield
! 10 tons/acre
Mean yield over entire country! 7.75 tons/acre

Mexico
Percent of crop to processing
10-20%
Percent exported
95%
75% US and Canada
20% Europe
5% Other

Mexico
Price
-! Average price 2009 (Servicio de Informacin Agroalimentaria
y Pesquera) $ 0.20/lb
Estimates from colleagues:
-! Fresh ranges from 0.45-3.18/lb; mean $0.90-1.13/lb
-! Processing $ 0.07-0.11/lb
-! Best way to look at fresh price. Price companies offer for
season. (only for best growers) $1.26-1.63 /lb
-! Price low points in December and May- $0.63/lb
-! Growers break even at $0.50/lb

Mexico
! Mostly Tupy but looking at new
Arkansas selections
! Use defoliants & growth
regulators to bring into
flowering.
! Can bring into fruiting at almost
any time but often manage for 3
primary crops
! Open field production
! Frost free production areas"

Following slides were

put together by Dr.
Jose Lopez Medina

Basic manipulation practices for Blackberry

!!
!!
!!
!!
!!
!!

Mow down (and burning) of canes

Advancement of floral initiation/differentiation
Cane #seasoning$
Hedge trimming
Defoliation
Use of growth-promoting substances

Mow down & burning of blackberry canes

Floral initiation-differentiation of blackberry

!! Four to seven months after cane emergence, depending
on variety

Seasoning of Canes
!!

Two or three weekly applications of the following

mix:
"!
"!
"!

Copper sulfate pentahydrate:

Urea:
Mineral oil:

1%
1%
1%

Hedge trimming

Defoliation
Tank mix (in 200 L water):
"!Urea:
"!Ammonium sulfate:
"!Copper sulfate pentahydrate:
"!Mineral oil:

10 Kg
40 Kg
4 Kg
2L

Bud Break Stimulation

Tank mix (in 200 L water):
"!Gibberellic acid:
5 - 10 g
"!Revent (20% TDZ) a cytokinin: 30 - 50 ml
"!Mineral oil:
1L

10 Oct.
Defoliation: 20 July

Choctaw

Brazos

Choice of a second crop

!! Cane clipping (removal of portion of canes that
bore the first crop)
!! Don"t need defoliation
!! Use of growth-promoting substances

Choice of a third crop

!! Cane trimming - removal of fruiting shoots that
bore a crop
!! Don"t need defoliation
!! Use of growth-promoting substances

Serbia
Acreage
Most important cultivars
Typical yield
High yield
Percent of crop to processing
Price
Percent exported
Miscellaneous

Photo: M. Nikolic/B. Tanic

Serbia
Main Production areas:
Central Serbia
Ma"va
Morava River Basin
Pocerina
Acreage:
11,00-12,500

Source: WWW-VL European History

Serbia

!
!
!

!
!
!

Acreage
About the same as 2005
High price in 2007
Photo: M. Nikolic/B. Tanic
Lots of planting in 2008
#after that time in 2008 and 2009 export of the
frozen fruits was stopped. Large quantities in
storage from 2007, 2008, and 2009.$
Price dropped, no new plantings. About 20-30% of
producers destroyed their plantations
In 2010, all frozen stocks exported.
Acreage about right.

Serbia
Most important cultivars
50% #a"anska bestrna
35% Thornfree
5% Black Satin
5% Dirksen Thornless
1% Darrow, Loch Ness, Chester
Thornless, Triple Crown, Hull

Photos: M. Nikolic/B. Tanic

! Growers prefer !#a"anska bestrna"

! Processors prefer !Thornfree" due to
better color stability after freezing, and
medium size fruit
!#a"anska bestrna" color problem

Serbia
Typical yield
! Source 1: 2.67-2.89 tons/acre
! Source 2:
!#a"anska bestrna, 6.7 tons/acre
!Thornfree, 5.3 tons/acre
High yield
! Source 1: 13.4 tons/acre
! Source 2:
Photo: M. Nikolic/B. Tanic
!#a"anska bestrna, 11.1 tons/acre
!Thornfree, 8.9 tons/acre
!Highest yield for #a"anska bestrna, 20.0 tons/acre

Serbia
Percent of crop to processing
95%
Processing
<5%
Domestic fresh
Percent exported
90% of processed crop exported

Photos: M. Nikolic/B. Tanic

Serbia
Price to Serbian growers ($/lb)
0.80
0.70

Source 1

0.60

Source 2

0.50

Price of exported frozen fruit

on European market 2010
$0.40-0.70/lb

0.40
0.30
0.20
0.10
0.00
2007

2008

2009

2010

Serbia

Photos: M. Nikolic/B. Tanic

United StatesCalifornia
Acreage
Most important cultivars
Typical yield
High yield
Percent of crop to processing
Price
Percent exported
Miscellaneous

United StatesCalifornia
Acreage:
! #no clue$
! 1,000-1,200 acres?

United States- California

!
!
!
!

Most important cultivars

Driscoll proprietary cultivars
Ouachita", !Obsidian", !Prime-Ark
45"
!Olallie" is still important roadside
but has nearly disappeared
!Newberry" in small plantings

Newberry; Mark Crosse

United States- California

Typical yield
! Watsonville

6 tons/acre; good 11 t/a; high 15+ t/a

By cultivar
! Ouachita
8 tons/acre;
high 9 tons/acre
! Obsidian
3.5 tons/acre
! Prime-Ark 45 6.5-7.5 tons/acre

United States- California

Percent of crop to processing
1% to juice
Price
Markets fluctuate.
$2.60-4.00/lb fresh market
David Karp

United States- Southeast

Acreage:
Most important cultivars:

400-600
Ouachita, Navaho,
Arapaho and Natchez
Typical yield:
2,000 flats/acre
High yield:
3,300 flats/acre
Percent of crop to processing: 15 % (frozen, wine, jams)
Price
Retail
$2.50/lb PYO, 4.00/pint
Wholesale
2009 $2.45/lb
2010 $2.25/lb

United States- Southeast

Miscellaneous
Horrible prices in late 2010 season due to
Mexican competition in May- June has
halted expansion and may lead decreased
acreage

Thanks again to:

Chile- Pilar Banados, Enrique Acevedo

China- Zhang Qinghua, Sing Lui, F. Dong
Mexico- Jose Lopez Medina, Mark Hurst
Serbia- Mihailo Nikolic, Brankica Tanovic, Miloljub
Stanisavljevic
United StatesSoutheast : Josh Bream, Gina Fernandez, Yongjian
Chang
California: Gavin Sills, Ellen Thompson

Thanks!
Any Questions?