By Yoke Har Lee
New Zealand's raspberry industry could add as much as $7,000 per acre (0.4 hectare) by growing a high-yield variety that can be harvested by machines.
If field trials currently underway prove successful, the industry, which has been ailing due to poor productivity, could be revived.
The world market for
raspberries is huge, but the New Zealand industry cannot currently capture it due to the inability to match world prices. This is a result of poor life expectancy, with the arrival of the Rubus Bushy Dwarf Virus, and low productivity rates.
Nelson raspberry grower Nigel Warnes said the industry could look forward to changes if research carried out by funding from Technology New Zealand yields results.
Mr Warnes, who owns one of New Zealand's largest raspberry farms, and is chairman of the Nelson Raspberry Marketing Committee said: "Carrying out the research has enabled us to address two problems at the same time. We identified high-producing plant varieties to replace those infected with the virus, and chose plants which can be efficiently machine harvested.
The full benefits of work done on the new plant breed will be realised in another two to three years when stocks of the selected variety are available, he said.
Up until now, handpicking raspberries has been the only practical option for local growers.
HortResearch scientists already knew of varieties suitable for machine harvesting but had to find a way to combine this with a high-yield variety suitable for the New Zealand climate.
Since the project began in November 1997, HortResearch has worked on developing raspberry stock that has high-yield and can be machine harvested.
Harvey Hall from HortResearch said: "We set an objective of 20 tonnes per hectare and with one variety this year achieved the equivalent of 17 tonnes without irrigation. We have two selections prepared for the next stage of evolution which is large scale field trials," he said.
He believes that the new varieties will replace existing plantings within five to eight years.
