Raspberries in the spotlight at the Berry Area of Macfrut, on May 6. During the Rimini fair dedicated to the fruit and vegetable supply chain (May 6-8), a series of in-depth conferences will follow one another in the new area dedicated to berries, launched by NCX Drahorad in collaboration with the Marche Polytechnic University and Macfrut.
The raspberry will be the absolute protagonist during the event ‘Raspberry Trend,’ scheduled at 11:00 a.m.
The objective of the event
“The goal we have set for ourselves,” said Bruno Mezzetti, professor of Arboriculture and Tree Crops at the Marche Polytechnic University and scientific manager of the Berry Area, to Italian Berry, “is to integrate the technical and scientific knowledge of researchers who specifically work on raspberries with that of the main companies involved in experimentation, research, cultivation, and commercialization of raspberries.
We will talk about varietal improvement and new varieties but also about cultivation techniques and techniques to preserve the fruit’s quality.”
Challenges and innovations
Technicians and experts will try to explore all the critical issues of the sector: “Surely the raspberry is experiencing a moment of strong innovation, a major varietal renewal.
The focus is on remontant varieties,” Mezzetti continued, “which are better suited to different cycles, especially in southern Italy, to achieve off-season production. The important thing is that they are resilient varieties adaptable to climate and especially to soil, even though raspberry cultivation systems are now moving towards soilless, that is, in pots.
In any case, being able to have soil-based cultivation also helps reduce production costs. Among the issues to address is crumbling. The fruit must remain compact and elastic because otherwise, when packed in baskets, the fruits underneath release liquid, which can lead to disease spread.
Firmness and elasticity are among the main factors to increase raspberry shelf-life, which at the moment is not very long; achieving 10 days of shelf life is already a great result.
Work is also being done on quality: for a variety to be competitive today, it must have an average weight of no less than 4 grams per fruit and a brix degree above 10.”
Breeding and genetics
The first two talks will focus on breeding and the development of new varieties with Valeria Pergolotti (UnivPM) and Alice Patella (Battistini Vivai), who will present ‘Raspberry breeding for resilience and quality,’ and with Susan McCallum from the James Hutton Institute, who will present ‘Raspberry genomic and breeding.’
“We will surely hear interesting news. In particular, the James Hutton Institute is one of the historic centers that has always worked on raspberries; their varieties have shaped the market. They will tell us about their genetic improvement programs increasingly integrated with genomic knowledge.
Genomic studies lead to the identification of the genetic mechanisms controlling traits aimed at identifying markers to accelerate breeding programs. They also work on new genomic techniques that can better identify the capacity of individual varieties and available parents to transmit the most interesting traits from an agronomic and quality point of view.”
Market and updated data
Market and consumption trends will be addressed by two major players such as Sant’Orsola and I Frutti di Gil (‘From breeding to consumption: raspberry trends’), while the issue of postharvest preservation will be explored by UniTo, with Nicole Giuggioli (DISAFA).
She will present the talk: ‘Trends in maintaining postharvest freshness and quality of raspberry.’
The latest data on areas planted with raspberries in Italy date back to 2021, released by CSO Italy, showing raspberries at 400 ha (hectares), with slow but continuous growth.
CSO Italy, in addition to presenting the European project ‘Berry Swing,’ which involves Italy and Germany in promoting berry consumption, will update statistical data not only on raspberries but on all berries.
On May 6 at 1:00 p.m., in fact, the presentation ‘Berry registry in Italy: evolution in comparison’ is scheduled.
