2005 Annual Report 1.What major problem or issue is being resolved and how are you resolving it (summarize project aims and objectives)? How serious is the problem? What does it matter? Small fruit farming historically has required high labor and chemical inputs to produce superior fruit. Improvements in the production efficiency and harvesting systems of strawberry, blueberry and blackberry are needed to foster commercial expansion of these small fruits and help mitigate production factors limiting profit potential. In the current global economic market, the blackberry industry in the Pacific Northwest and the blueberry industry in the southeastern United States, find it difficult to maintain a profitable operation with ever-increasing competition from countries to the south. This project has four specific goals.. 1)Develop novel cultural and chemical treatments to mitigate low temperature damage of blackberry plants and to accelerate and intensify floral bud initiation and subsequent reproductive development;. 2)Develop kaolin-based hydrophobic particle film technology and its application methods for weed, mollusc, and insect control; . 3)Improve the understanding of mechanisms controlling flower development in blackberry and strawberry and growth processes involved in regulating the flower size and inflorescence development; and . 4)Analyze the effects of plant material source and environmental conditions to devise management strategies aimed at producing high quality, superior yielding strawberry transplants for out-of-season fruit production. The research to be undertaken fall under National Program 305 - Crop Production and addresses goals 1.2, 2, and 3.2 as described in the National Program Action Plan. These goals are to develop crop management principles and improve the understanding of the biological mechanisms to enhance the competitive advantage of U.S. small fruit crops and develop crop management practices and technologies for berry crops. Research into alternative production systems and pest control strategies and evaluation of novel germplasm material will provide new technology and will create new opportunities to produce blackberries, strawberries and blueberries for fresh market. The development of alternative pest control strategies for the red raspberry crown borer is essential because the current chemical method of control will not be available in several years. Without an alternative control measure, the sustainability of domestic blackberry production, especially in the southern United States, is doubtful. Harvesting is area where technological advances can contribute to increasing production while lowering labor cost, thereby greatly improving the industry's competitive position in global markets. Research on soilless production techniques for strawberries will provide new technology for producing strawberries without the need for pre-plant soil fumigation while extending the harvest and eliminating nutrient leaching. Technology transfer efforts proposed in this project will improve viability of small fruit farming and rural vitality in several regions of the United States. 2.List the milestones (indicators of progress) from your Project Plan. 1. Develop winter protection techniques for blackberry: FY 05 - Establish blackberry plantings in Maine, New Hampshire, and West Virginia FY 06 - Complete field studies on canopy rotation and insulation FY 07 - Optimize parameters FY 08 - Finish studies, transfer technology 2. Conduct pest management studies: FY 05 - Complete greenhouse bioassays on slugs FY 06 - Complete field studies on slug control and raspberry crown borer FY 07 - Optimize parameters, patent technology FY 08 - Finish studies, transfer technology 3. Develop nutrient management techniques: FY 05 - Evaluate split-root growing systems FY 06 - Complete nutrient uptake and plant growth studies FY 07 - Optimize parameters FY 08 - Finish studies, transfer technology 4. Environmental variables on blackberries: FY 05 - Complete photoperiod studies FY 06 - Complete light intensity and temperature studies FY 07 - Optimize parameters FY 08 - Finish studies, transfer technology 5. Strawberry propagation: FY 05 - Complete studies on low temperature storage FY 06 - Complete field performance studies FY 07 - Optimize parameters FY 08 - Finish studies, transfer technology 4a.What was the single most significant accomplishment this past year? Fall and spring fruiting from strawberry plants in annual plasticulture system. Strawberry plants that normally produce fruit only in spring will now fruit in fall and spring. At the Appalachian Fruit Research Station, Kearneysville, WV, scientists developed a new transplant propagation technique that programs strawberry plants to flower within 4 weeks after field establishment. The interest is high in meeting the market demand for fresh strawberries from September to December. Short-term cropping systems improve opportunities for farm diversification and help growers to produce a variety of fruit crops for niche markets. This propagation technique stretches the picking season to late fall when the price is greatest and lessens the risk of weather related crop loss. 4b.List other significant accomplishments, if any. None. 4c.List any significant activities that support special target populations. Two presentations were made at the North American Berry Conference in January 2005, to an audience that consisted of 100 small-acreage farmers. One talk dealt with cultural techniques for producing strawberries in out-of-season and the other was on mechanical harvesting of soft fruit intended for fresh market. A talk was presented at the University of Maryland Wye Research and Education Center Strawberry Twilight meeting in May 2005, to an audience that consisted of 70 small-acreage farmers. The talk dealt with plant propagation method to promote fall fruiting in strawberry varieties that normally produce fruit only in June. 4d.Progress report. 1931-21000-012-01N: This report serves to document research conducted under a non-funded cooperative agreement between ARS and the University of Maine. Siskiyou, Boysen, Navaho and Triple Crown blackberries were potted and will be grown outdoor and in a plastic house at the Maine Agricultural Experiment Station in Manmouth, ME. The rotatable cross-arm trellis and conventional single post trellis systems will be installed. Winter protection treatments will be applied in the fall. The purpose of this project is to develop novel blackberry cultural techniques to mitigate low temperature damage. RCA trellis system permits canes to be positioned close to the ground and allow winter protection material and snow to cover the canes. Insulation of canes by the winter protection cover and snow will minimize plant's exposure to low temperatures and improve bud survival. An effective winter protection system will help farmers to grow blackberries in northern states. 1931-21000-012-02N: This report serves to document research conducted under a non-funded cooperative agreement between ARS and the University of New Hampshire. A field plot containing Siskiyou Boysen, Navaho and Triple Crown blackberries was established at the University of New Hampshire Horticulture Farm near Durham, NH, and the rotatable cross-arm (RCA) trellis and conventional single post trellis systems were installed. The purpose of this project is to develop novel blackberry cultural techniques to mitigate low temperature damage. RCA trellis system permits canes to be positioned close to the ground and allow winter protection material and snow to cover the canes. Insulation of canes by winter protection cover and snow will minimize exposure to low temperatures and improve bud survival. An effective winter protection system will help farmers to grow blackberries in northern states. Preliminary findings indicated that the canes that were covered with snow in winter produced fruiting shoots in spring. 1931-21000-012-04S: This report serves to document research conducted under a specific cooperative agreement between ARS and the University of Missouri. Apache and Navaho blackberries were treated with particle film materials, whitewash paint, and water sprays in late winter. From late winter to early summer, the following information was collected: The time of budbreak, percent bud break, bloom date, size of flower cluster, and yield. Particle film and whitewash treatments delayed budbreak and increased budbreak. The results suggested both particle film and whitewash sprays provide some degree of winter protection. 5.Describe the major accomplishments over the life of the project, including their predicted or actual impact. The number of registered herbicides for small fruit culture continues to decline in number. There is a need for alternative, more environmentally friendly weed control measures for small fruit crops especially during the first two months following crop establishment. At the Appalachian Fruit Research Station, Kearneysville, WV, scientists completed a three-year field study that evaluated the potential of hydrophobic and oil-based mulches as alternatives to the conventional herbicide treatment to suppress weeds and their effect on subsequent blackberry growth and yield. We found that in the first year after planting, plants in unmanaged, weedy plots grew half as much as those growing in weed-free planting holes. Pre-plant hydrophobic mulch application and post-plant application of sprayable mulch consisting of anhydrous kaolin particles and cottonseed oil provided excellent weed control, but these weed control measures resulted in unacceptable crop loss. Post-plant application of hydrophobic kaolin mulch provided excellent weed control during the first year after planting and had no adverse effect on blackberry transplant mortality, growth in the second and third year, or fruit yield. This research has identified the use of hydrophobic kaolin clay particle as an environmentally safe new weed management technique that mitigates scarcity of synthetic chemicals for small fruit crops as well as other horticultural crops and improves the economic viability of small fruit production. Actual Impact: This information formed the basis for a patent application (No. 10/822,886) submitted to the US Patent and Trademark Office and the work was published in a peer-review journal. Potential Impact: This technology could significantly change how small fruit growers control weeds in their fields without potential adverse effects on the environment while at the same time maximizing fruit yield. Little commercial blackberry production exists in areas with severe winters (minimum winter temperatures below 0 degrees F) and short growing seasons. Adaptability of blackberries to low and fluctuating winter temperatures, mechanical harvesting, and uniform fruit ripening are important problems in blackberry culture. We have established the timing and patterns of floral bud development in blackberries grown in Arkansas, Oregon, and West Virginia and determined that some cultivars require a brief exposure to cool temperatures for flower bud development to occur while in other cultivars an exposure to cold temperatures was not necessary. These findings facilitate a better understanding of the relationship between floral bud development, exposure to cold temperatures, and susceptibility of buds to low or fluctuating winter temperature. A study determined that a combination of simple cultural practices, a modified rotatable cross-arm trellis, and covering plants with an insulating material in winter could overcome the lack of cold hardiness in blackberry varieties under mid-Atlantic coast conditions. Using this cultural technique, 'Siskiyou' blackberry produced 3 to 5 times more fruit than plants in the open. Potential Impact: With addition of cultivars such as 'Siskiyou', there is a potential for the production of early-season, high quality blackberries in the eastern United States that would greatly improve the sustainability of small acreage farmers producing specialty crops. Hand harvesting of small fruit crops requires a large work force and is quite expensive. We developed a new canopy management technique for small fruit crops to facilitate machine harvesting. The research contributed to the development of a commercially viable blueberry harvester capable of harvesting fresh market quality berries. We demonstrated that winter pruning of upright and over-arching canes on mature rabbiteye blueberry plants enabled a V45 Blueberry Harvester to machine harvest them without damaging bushes and detach fresh-market quality fruit. Potential Impact: If rabbiteye blueberry growers adopt our cultural practice, then mechanically harvested rabbiteye blueberries with high quality will become available for fresh fruit consumption. This will improve the sustainability of rabbiteye blueberry industry in the southeastern United States. There is year-round demand for fresh strawberries, but the strawberry production in the eastern United States is only seasonal. We developed a new strawberry propagation strategy that allows the production of transplants that will flower and produce fruit in fall and spring. Our work showed that transplants established in early July in the mid-Atlantic coast region can begin to flower in late September and produced fruit from late October to December. Also, they produced more fruit in spring than conventionally propagated, August transplants. The new production strategy allows eastern strawberry growers to supply fresh berries to niche markets when the prices are high and shipments from major production areas such as California and Florida are low. Actual Impact: Several growers in Maryland and Pennsylvania have modified their strawberry transplanting time to obtain two crops. 6.What science and/or technologies have been transferred and to whom? When is the science and/or technology likely to become available to the end-user (industry, farmer, other scientists)? What are the constraints, if known, to the adoption and durability of the technology products? We provided scientific information, data, and technical specifications on soilless strawberry production systems and blackberry production systems to over 100 growers, more than 40 scientists, and regional agricultural enterprise development specialists in Virginia, Georgia, and California. Several strawberry farmers in the mid-Atlantic coast region are using our transplant propagation method. n FY2006, scientists at four Land-Grant institutions and Noble Foundation in Ardmore, OK will establish field experiments with transplants prepared according to techniques developed by AFRS scientists to study propagation techniques for promoting fruit production from October to December. We transferred the technology on alternative weed management to farmers and other scientists through several publications in peer-reviewed journal articles and conference proceedings. The information on trellis system and cane training techniques enables blackberry production in regions with cold winters such as New England. We initiated a cooperative projects with a scientist at the University of Maine, who received a $5,000 financial support from the Maine Agricultural Experiment Station, to conduct research to develop new technologies, including the AFRS winter protection technique, for growing blackberries in areas with low winter temperatures and short growing seasons. We have conducted tours for students, growers, and extension personnel during which we discussed current research and provided information that would assist in making management decisions for reliable production of high-quality strawberries and blackberries. The strawberry nursery industry in the mid-Atlantic coast region may resist the adoption of greenhouse soilless strawberry propagation technique unless fungicides are available to control anthracnose disease and agricultural inspection service can certify that transplants are reasonably clean. 7.List your most important publications in the popular press and presentations to organizations and articles written about your work. (NOTE: List your peer reviewed publications below). Takeda, F. 2005. Summary of USDA plasticulture research at the Wye Research and Education Center. Proceedings of 2005 University of Maryland Strawberry Field Day, p. 1-3. Review Publications TWORKOSKI, T., PREUSCH, P., TAKEDA, F. N AND P UPTAKE BY STRAWBERRY PLANTS GROWN WITH COMPOSTED POULTRY LITTER. 2003. doi:10.1016/j.scienta.2003.12.005; Scientia Horticulturae 102 (2004) 91-103. Takeda, F. 2005. Introduction to the workshop on redent advances in machine harvesting of fruits and vegetables. HortTechnology. January - March 2005. 15(1) Hokanson, S.C., Takeda, F., Enns, J.M., Black, B.L. 2004. Influence of cold storage duration on strawberry runner tip viability and field performance. Hortscience.39:1596-1600 Takeda, F., Hokanson, S.C., Enns, J.M. 2004. Influence of daughter plant size and position on strawberry transplant production and field performance. Hortscience. 39: 1592-1595. 2004