By Clint Thompson
Florida blueberry farmers are not placing all of their eggs in one basket when it comes to planting certain varieties. That’s encouraging news for University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) blueberry breeder Patricio Munoz.
He reported at last week’s Southeast Regional Fruit and Vegetable Conference that the Farthing variety comprised the most blueberry acreage in North-Central Florida at only 16%. Sentinel and Optimus were reported at 13%, followed by Patrecia at 11% and Colossus at 8%.
“It’s very important in my view,” Munoz said. “We want to avoid issues that other crops have had in the past where they rely on one single variety. Then a new pest or new disease comes and wipes them out. Our goal we believe is to have five varieties per region. In some areas of the state they have up to 16 varieties. The idea is we’re trying to replace almost all the varieties, the ones that don’t have the characteristics that the market nowadays is requiring.
“The idea is to give options to the growers. Sometimes you have one single variety and two producers that are side by side, one of them is amazingly successful and the other one is not able to grow it at all. That’s the goal, always to have multiple varieties.”