In an effort to help growers meet the increase in demand for blueberries and raspberries, researchers with Ohio State University are studying alternative planting methods in hopes of boosting production rates, according to Agri-View.

OSU Extension’s Gary Gao explains the recent trend by citing the increased awareness of the small fruit’s many health benefits. “Fresh raspberry consumption is up nearly 300 percent in the U.S. and blackberry crops have expanded worldwide,” says Gao.

Gao is exploring a method of using high tunnels to grow the plants in order to protect them from adverse weather conditions, pests and disease. This method also extends the traditional growing period of blackberries and raspberries, allowing the beginnings of fruit production to occur weeks ahead of schedule.

“There is a lot of excitement with high tunnels,” Gao says. “If you grow raspberries in the field with no protection, you’d probably yield 5,000 to 6,000 raspberries per acre. But if you grow raspberries in high tunnels, you can eventually yield 16,000 to 19,000 per acre, which is a tremendous increase.”

This tunnel system also allows growers to use less fungicide sprays as they plants are shielded from rain in this particular configuration.

“This strong demand for fresh blackberries and raspberries presents a golden opportunity for existing fruit growers to expand their production acreage and new growers to get into bramble production as a way to diversify their business,” Gao says. “The main benefit is we just don’t have enough locally grown raspberries or blackberries. If you talk to any raspberry or blackberry grower, they say they would benefit from a longer season to benefit from the mass of consumers interested in the locally grown fruits.”

Agri-View