Achieving high returns for growers and high satisfaction for consumers are the main objectives of the University of Florida’s (UF/IFAS) blueberry breeding program. This program has positioned itself as a global leader in the development of low-chill varieties (Southern Highbush), revolutionizing global production with milestones such as ‘Sharpblue’, a variety that this year marks 50 years since its development and that ushered in a new era for the industry.
In an interview with Blueberries News, Dr. Patricio Muñoz, an academic specialist in blueberry breeding and Endowed Chair Professor of Horticultural Crop Breeding at the University of Florida (USA), outlines the guidelines, objectives, and challenges of the university’s breeding program.
According to the expert, a breeding program must be fully aligned with the requirements of the supply chain. “Decisions are not made based solely on genetics, but also on market information and on the needs of the different stakeholders involved in the chain,” he explained.
The first client of a breeding program is the nurseries, which are responsible for plant propagation. “We may have an excellent variety in every respect, but if it cannot be propagated efficiently, it will never reach the market because there will be no plants available for the next players in the chain,” Muñoz noted.
The next link corresponds to growers, who require plants with good health, high productivity, and adaptability to the climatic and management conditions of each region. Then come the trader or marketer, retail, and finally, the consumer.
“Growers, marketers, traders, and supermarkets seek a consistent supply, fruit with good appearance, free of sanitary issues, with good flavor and excellent organoleptic characteristics, so that consumers continue to prefer their brands and retailers,” the specialist stated.
Appearance, flavor, and postharvest performance: Keys for retail and consumers
Muñoz emphasized that supermarkets particularly value the appearance of the fruit, as “it is bought with the eyes.” “Therefore, the fruit must look good, present excellent condition, be free of diseases, and offer an attractive consumption experience.
The final player is the consumer, who seeks fruit with good flavor, good texture, and a refrigerated shelf life of between three and five days,” he explained.
To achieve this, varieties must be able to withstand the entire logistics chain, including long journeys—for example, from South America to North America—and then maintain an adequate shelf life. “The fruit goes through multiple temperature changes: it leaves the cold chain, arrives at the supermarket, is carried in bags, travels in the car, reaches the home, is refrigerated, and washed. There is a great deal of handling, so it must be very stable,” he added.
Profitability for growers, satisfaction for consumers
The University of Florida’s breeding program focuses especially on two key stakeholders: the grower and the consumer. “The grower is the one who opens the chain. If you don’t have good productivity and fruit quality, the entire system is affected,” Muñoz stated.
“Therefore, the central objective is to deliver profitability to growers through varieties with good yields, large size, firmness, health, and adaptability to different climatic conditions and management systems. It is important that these varieties can withstand climate variability and extreme precipitation and temperature events. At the same time, the goal is to offer consumers fruit with excellent organoleptic characteristics and an attractive appearance,” he specified.
He added, “If we meet the demands of growers and consumers, we automatically address the needs of marketers and retailers, both in the domestic market and with imported fruit.”
Key varieties that have shaped the global industry
The University of Florida’s Southern Highbush blueberry breeding program was the one that developed this varietal type and has produced fundamental varieties for the global expansion of the industry.
“In this varietal segment, around 40% to 50% of the varieties used worldwide come from our program. The first major variety was ‘Sharpblue’, developed in 1976 by Dr. Ralph Sharpe, and considered the world’s first low-chill variety. This year we celebrate 50 years since its development, which marked the beginning of a new global market,” Muñoz highlighted.
According to the specialist, other emblematic varieties such as Emerald, Jewel, Snowchaser, and Star were key to the development of markets in countries such as Chile, Morocco, and Australia. The program has directly developed more than 80 varieties, and another 80 in collaboration with other breeding programs. “At the local level, we continue to innovate. In 2017, the program developed the variety Optimus, the first variety exclusively for mechanical harvesting intended for the fresh market, with excellent acceptance and planted area in Florida. The most recent varieties we launched were Sharper and Falcon. Sharper was named in honor of the 50th anniversary of Sharpblue. It meets all the requirements we seek: high productivity, great adaptability—including Florida and Peru—good fruit size, excellent postharvest performance, and very good flavor and aroma, especially suited for the evergreen system. Falcon is a highly productive variety, with fruit of very good appearance, jumbo size, and a long postharvest life. Falcon was developed for both systems, deciduous and evergreen. In addition, the program has recently introduced a pink variety, which will begin to appear in international supermarkets over the coming year,” he explained.
Adaptation to climate change and pest resistance
egarding climate change, Muñoz noted that extreme and variable conditions have become more frequent. “In tropical and high-temperature areas, we have an advantage, as we develop varieties with no chill requirement in southern Florida, where there is virtually no thermal variation.” Meanwhile, northern Florida provides the opportunity to develop varieties with low to medium chill requirements, he detailed.
In terms of rainfall, Florida offers a highly demanding environment: intense heat and precipitation during harvest. “In the past, the fruit would split or burst with the rain. Today, that practically does not occur, because selection takes place under very harsh conditions,” he emphasized.
Florida also presents extremely high pest and disease pressure, concentrating around 95% of those that affect blueberries. “Plants that do not withstand these conditions simply do not advance to the next stage of selection and do not reach the market. For this reason, our new varieties are more resilient, flexible, and adaptable,” he stated.
However, the academic stated that breeding faces challenges, especially in regions with higher chill requirements. “Warmer winters may prevent the fulfillment of chill hours, and earlier varieties can be affected by spring frosts. In such cases, protection strategies are required, which involve additional investments,” he pointed out. He also emphasized that “the program’s great advantage is the broad genetic diversity it possesses and continues to generate each year, as well as the technological tools used to develop new varieties, such as genomic statistics, gene editing, marker-assisted selection, in vitro breeding, robotics, and digital breeding.”
