A strong presence from Battistini Vivai at Macfrut in Rimini in the Berry Area. To meet market demands, Battistini Vivai has adopted a strategy focused on innovation and experimentation.
In collaboration with Commercial Alfa (Chile), Caliplant Group (Spain), and Florep (USA), it presented “our first variety for testing: Blueberica Nordica (A81), currently under protection in Europe.”
Unlike other companies that “adopt club models or limit access to new genetic materials to a few licensees, we have chosen a more open approach. We are pleased to offer testing opportunities to a selected number of companies, allowing them to directly assess the potential of this new variety.”
Support for innovation
The initiative at Macfrut serves innovation in the sector of blueberries. How? “By providing producers with cutting-edge genetic solutions capable of meeting the challenges of an increasingly competitive and demanding market.”
Battistini Vivai licensee of the new Navarro genetics
Battistini Vivai announced in Rimini that it has become the licensee of the new blueberry genetics from breeder Alejandro Navarro, Commercial Alfa.
Alejandro Navarro started his blueberry breeding program in 2007, aiming to offer blueberry producers innovative and high-performing varieties capable of adapting to the growing demands of a global and increasingly competitive market.
Some of the most promising selections from Alejandro’s crosses have already been tested in Chile and Mexico. An important first step was the community protection application filed in 2024 for a northern selection (A81).
Blueberica arrives
A further development of the company was to envision a global strategy for the promotion and testing of these new materials, in collaboration with Alejandro, the breeder, and the Spanish company Caliplant, through Juan Luis Jimenez Martinez and Marc Englert, who are supporting the project and Battistini Vivai in carrying out a commercial launch of this genetics: Blueberica.
One of the first fruits of this collaboration was the launch of one of the first varieties in the Blueberica series: Nordica (A81). This variety represents a significant innovation in the blueberry cultivation landscape, with productivity, fruit quality, and adaptability characteristics that make it a valuable opportunity for European producers.
Nordica has already stood out in preliminary tests, delivering excellent results, and marks the beginning of an entire range of varieties that Battistini Vivai will introduce in the coming years.
With experience gained in the field of micropropagation and commercialization of blueberry varieties since the late 1990s, and the scientific, technical, and management support of Commercial Alfa (Chile), Caliplant Group (Spain), and Florep (USA), this new range of blueberry varieties represents an opportunity for Italian and European growers ready for more sustainable and profitable solutions for the production of high-quality blueberries.
A shared commitment
The collaboration with Alejandro Navarro and Caliplant is set to further strengthen Battistini Vivai’s position as a reference point in the field of blueberry genetics.
Battistini Vivai launched a research project in 2022 on new soilless blueberry genetics, using a 35-liter pot (about 9.2 gallons). More specifically, an experimental evaluation field was set up at the Casemurate headquarters near Cesena, in the Emilia-Romagna region.
In this experimental field, several selections from international breeding programs (Chile, Poland, United States, etc.) and traditional blueberry varieties propagated by Battistini in the new VitroLeaf micropropagation laboratory were compared.
Thanks to collaboration in Poland with Cieplucha Nursery, focused on evaluating and collecting data on their proprietary new genetics (these are selections suitable for northern areas with high chill requirements), the project continued with the opportunity to propagate and market the first selections, now recognized as official varieties, under a non-exclusive license.
The Olympos Blueberry varieties
The first four blueberry varieties: Athena, Zeus, Demeter, and Apollo are part of the "Olympos Blueberry" series and are currently under protection at the European level. These varieties were selected for their advanced agronomic characteristics, particularly suitable for the climatic conditions of Northern Europe and Northern Italy.
Gian Basilio Nieddu
