The Horticulture department of plant pathology has done extraordinary things with blueberries from making them resistant to disease and frost to developing 27 different varieties that make it possible to harvest the crop by machine.
Bill Cline, a research extension specialist and pathologist from the University’s horticulture department has been meddling with blueberries since 1987. He has discovered ways to create disease resistance and certain physical properties for the berries at research farms in the coastal town of Castle Hayne.
Cline grew up in western North Carolina surrounded by bushes of blueberries. He developed an interest in them and how they were grown. When given the opportunity to participate in this research, he was more than happy to oblige.
“It’s a great opportunity that I had to do pathology work to deal with disease problems,” Cline said.
Cline and other researchers like Jim Ballington, a horticulturist and plant breeder from the University’s research team, have found ways to combat N.C’s climate and make life for the blueberry a possibility. By cross-pollinating different species of blueberries, a new variety can be developed that resists certain climates.
For example, by taking a strain of blueberries native to Canada and a strain from a Floridian berry and cultivating the two together using vegetative propagation, (defined in alt. box 3) you will have a strain of blueberry resistant to extreme cold and heat and tastes like either a Florida or Canada berry.
The 27 different types of blueberries developed by Ballington and Cline contain variations unique to every berry. These extraordinary varieties of blueberries are a stepping-stone to one of the main goals of blueberry breeding.
“We want to get away from hand harvesting,” Cline said. “We want to move more towards machine harvesting and be able to knock the blueberries off [their bush] without crushing them.”
In order to achieve this, the blueberries must have a crunchy and bouncy skin, similar to a grape, in order to be packaged successfully without damage.
These mechanically cultivated blueberries are already on the market and can be purchased at any local grocery store. The strains that are most likely to end up in the store are named Reveille and Bladen.
As a pathologist, Cline has also dedicated his time discovering ways to make blueberries resistant to certain diseases that have plagued blueberry crops in the past. The blueberry stem canker, a disease that attacks the plant’s stem, is one of the many diseases breeders and growers have to cope with.
To develop these disease resistant variations, Cline took plants grown from breeders and tried to infect and kill them. If one of the samples proved to be resistant to the fungal invasion, its seedlings from inside the berry were taken and cultivated, creating more of the disease-resistant strain. This allows the grower’s crops to flourish without worry of disease.
This study, along with others, has made a significant impact on North Carolina’s economy with becoming one of North Carolina’s leading exports. According to the NC Department of Agriculture, last year alone North Carolina produced 39.1 million pounds of blueberries and ranks 6th in the nation for blueberry production.
The luxury of having this plant available regardless of the season enables growers to increase prices, creating more profit. According to the Department of Plant Pathology, prices have also increased because of the popularity blueberries have received from their health benefits.
The U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council shows blueberries are full of Vitamin C, amino acids and antioxidants.
“Antioxidants are wonderful,” Suzie Goodwell, assistant professor and nutrition NUTS program director said. “[They] help reduce or prevent cell damage that can lead to heart disease, cancer, and other age-related diseases.”
Cline, Ballington and other researchers have spent innumerable hours on blueberry research. Because it takes 15 to 16 years for a single bush to bloom, researchers may not see any results for the first half of their research. “It’s a very long process,” Cline said. “It takes a dedicated person to come up with this.”
Vegetative propagation: The process of making duplicates of another plant without using seeds or pollination. This process essentially makes an “identical twin” of the plant it came off of. A piece of the plant (called a cutting) containing at least one stem cell is placed in soil (can be leaves, roots or stems). This cutting develops roots and stems that eventually develop into a new, identical plant. Source: Bill Cline and urbanext.illinois.edu/houseplants/propagation.cfm
History of NC Blueberries: The first blueberry planted in North Carolina was in 1936 by a berry planter from New Jersey. Blueberries are native to North America, but they thrive in highly organic soil near the coastline where no other crop would grow as abundantly. Blueberries thrive in acidic soil (a pH of 4.5 or lower) and they need certain amounts of cold weather in order for them to grow properly. It takes 15-16 years for one blueberry bush to grow to its full potential. In 2010, North Carolina produced 39.1 million pounds of blueberries. North Carolina ranks 6th in the nation for blueberry production. Source: NC Department of Agriculture and Bill Cline
The 27 strains of blueberry are unique in their own ways They are resistant to some common blueberry diseases and funguses. Two of the 27 named Reveille and Bladen have been engineered to withstand mechanical harvesting and have the physical properties similar to a grape. Other names of the variations are: Craven, Pender, Pamlico and Lenoir. Most of the blueberries produced in NC are grown on the coast and are one of the 27 strains produced by NC State’s researchers. Some of the varieties are available for purchase at your local grocery store. Source: Bill Cline and Perspectives online (CALS’s magazine)
