Project Number: 1931-21000-018-00
Project Type: Appropriated

Start Date: Nov 28, 2008
End Date: Nov 27, 2013

Objective:
1. Enhance productivity in strawberry. 2. Enhance blackberry yield and survival.

Approach:
Small fruits require high labor and chemical inputs. Improvements in cropping efficiency and out-of-season fruit production of strawberries and blackberries are needed to foster commercial expansion of these small fruits and help mitigate production factors limiting profit potential. In the current global economic market, it is difficult for the small fruit industry in the United States to maintain a profitable operation with ever-increasing competition and market share by fruits being imported from countries to the south. Studies will be conducted to: 1) determine the efficacy of novel cultural and chemical treatments to mitigate low temperature damage, and effects of primocane and environmental manipulations to accelerate and intensify floral bud initiation and subsequent reproductive development, 2) improve the understanding of mechanisms controlling flower development in strawberry and blackberry, and growth processes involved in regulating the flower size and inflorescence development, and 3) analyze the effects of plant material source and environmental conditions during transplant propagation to devise management strategies aimed at producing high quality, superior yielding strawberry transplants. Research into alternative production systems and evaluation of novel germplasm materials is expected to provide new technology and to create new opportunities to produce blackberries for fresh market. Research on season extension techniques for strawberries will provide new technology for the management of strawberries without the need for pre-plant soil fumigation and also opportunities to produce strawberries from October to December in the mid-Atlantic coast region. Technology transfer efforts proposed in this project are expected to improve viability of small fruit farming and rural vitality in several regions of the United States.