Berries are a big deal in Oregon.
Oregon State University’s department of horticulture has some of the most optimal growing conditions for the small fruit. Since 1911, OSU has had a breeding program that has put forth many different species and sub-species. Perhaps the most important of the berry species occurring indigenously is the Rubus variety.
The Rubus species includes raspberries, blackberries, dewberries and marionberries, among many other similar types. Recent efforts in breeding have attempted to create an ideal berry, not only for growing and consuming purposes, but also for legal reasons.
These small fruits, loaded with antioxidants and nutrients, thankfully, are here to stay.
Early breeding and cultivation began as early as 1911 when the United States Department of Agriculture brought berry breeding to OSU. Things didn’t really get moving until the later 1920s, but by the ’40s a horticulturalist by the name of George Darryl had introduced a European variety of the blackberry, the evergreen blackberry, to Oregon soil. Soon after, researchers began crossing native Oregon species with the European variety to produce something that suited both the palate and the growing conditions.
“If you look at blackberries, what’s cool about it is there really was not a commercial blackberry cultivar when Waldo and Darryl were working on these things,” said Chad Finn, a USDA research geneticist in Corvallis.
George Waldo had, by 1956, crossed the hybrid varieties Chehalem and Olallie to create the marionberry, which in turn has proved to be one of the region’s most valuable
agricultural pillars.
“There’s always going to be marion in this valley. It’s got such a following,” Finn said. “I shouldn’t say always, but it would to take 100 years to get marion out of this valley, at least, just because it has such a great fruit quality and people know it.”
One of the main concerns for berry producers is, surprisingly enough, thorns. Harvesting in the state is done by machine, which is logical considering the time and finances needed for hand picking wouldn’t allow farmers to break even.
However, machine harvesting can also be a farmer’s worst nightmare if thorns happen to get lodged in the fruit.
“Thorns are classified by the FDA as the same thing as like glass,” Finn said. “So if you have thorns in your product and it’s detected at whatever level, that’s unacceptable, and you’re supposed to landfill that product.”
Lawsuits brought against farmers and retailers have caused them to look to researchers for an improvement in the berry.
“Really, the driving force to replace marions has been the thorns, and that’s because thorns lead to lawsuits,” Finn said.
But, considering the reputation of the marionberry, it would take something drastic to sufficiently replace it. Some variations and hybrids have been made, but it just hasn’t been the same.
In 2005, USDA’s Agricultural Research Service released three different varieties of thornless blackberries, the most successful of which was the Black Diamond variation.
“I wish [the flavor] was a little more intense like marion, but I’ve been told that flavor is not its problem,” Finn said.
The Pacific Northwest has two main factors working in its favor in a rapidly expanding world berry market, with Mexico’s production skyrocketing within the last decade. Those factors are quality and machine harvest, and without both, the Northwest’s market could come crashing down.
“You have to be competitive on quality, and that’s going to be one of the really good things about the Northwest. We have this ideal growing situation where we have warm but not hot days, cool evenings, and we have lots of sun. Those things lead to high sugar content and the best-developed flavors,” Finn said. “The berries tend to ripen more slowly here so they really reach their peak perfection.”
In an environment that is so perfect for agriculture, sometimes it’s the little things that can keep us shy of perfection.
But then that’s why researchers like Finn are employed: to keep the Willamette Valley’s farmers in business and the fruit tasting even better.
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Better berry breeding, courtesy of Oregon
Daily Emerald
April 14, 2010
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