Breeding Highbush Blueberry Cultivars Adapted to Machine Harvest for the Fresh Market

Abstract

In recent years, world blueberry (Vaccinium sp.) production has been split evenly between processing and fresh fruit markets. Machine harvest of highbush blueberry {northern highbush blueberry [NHB (V. corymbosum)], southern highbush blueberry [SHB (V. corymbosum interspecific hybrids)], and rabbiteye blueberry [RE (V. virgatum)]} typically has been used to obtain large volumes of fruit destined for processing. Because of financial and labor concerns, growers are interested in using machine harvesting for fruit destined to be fresh marketed. Bush architecture, harvest timing, loose fruit clusters, easy detachment of mature berries compared with immature berries, no stem retention, small stem scar, a persistent wax layer, and firm fruit are breeding goals to develop cultivars amenable to machine harvest. Progress in selecting for these traits has been made in existing highbush blueberry breeding programs, but will likely intensify as the need for cultivars suitable for machine harvest for the fresh market increases.