FCM20-002 was described as a heavy-cropping Mexican selection with a relatively concentrated harvest peak, sweet flavour and average shelf life. Kotzé says the performance data shown came from Mexico or Spain and still needed to be validated under Southern African conditions.
The trial data also compared the pipeline material with established cultivars Apex (FCM14-057), AzraBlue (FCM14-031) and Sekoya Pop (FCM14-052). Ventura was also used as a comparator in the FCE19-018 trial data.
Breeding for diverse growing conditions
The genetics discussion came as export prospects shift and growers face increasing pressure to diversify markets. On 8 September, the Department of Agriculture said negotiations to give South African blueberries access to China were at an advanced stage, after China submitted a draft import protocol.
The process was targeted for finalisation before year-end. The International Blueberry Organization has meanwhile reported a shift away from volume-led expansion towards stronger competition on fruit quality, consistency and eating experience.
Kotzé says blueberry breeding takes years and involves a large number of selections. A variety typically takes between eight and 15 years to move from early crosses to commercialisation. Fall Creek’s breeding programme comprises roughly 300 crosses annually and about 30 000 seedlings entering evaluation each year, before progressively fewer selections advance through external trials.
Breeders therefore have to anticipate future market and production requirements years in advance, drawing on information from growers, marketers and consumers. Kotzé says applied research evaluates promising genetics across regions and climatic zones while developing management guidance. Fall Creek uses row trials, placing these new selections with growers to test them under local conditions.
This was particularly demanding in Southern Africa, where the region stretches from near-equatorial Kenya to the Western Cape at 32° to 34° south, with wide differences in latitude, altitude and climate. Kotzé says a selection that performed well in Mexico or Spain could not be assumed to behave the same way locally.
FCE21-024 had been distributed selectively in Zimbabwe and Kenya but not yet in South Africa. Kotzé sees more potential for it in the Western Cape than in the northern regions. He says the region’s complexity was also an opportunity, with its diversity potentially allowing supply across a broad annual window. The challenge is finding the right genetics for each growing region.
Matching genetics to market requirements
Yolandi Copeland, area sales manager for Southern Africa, who stood in for EMEA commercial manager Teun Leenders, says matching genetics to region, climate, production system, and market requirements was central to the company’s approach.
She says Fall Creek had a presence in South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Kenya, and that its first plants had arrived in Zambia. Retailers were increasingly looking for resilient supply from more than one country of origin, she says, which created an opening for South African fruit.
“The opportunity is not simply to grow more blueberries. It is to grow the right blueberries in the right place for the right market at the right time,” she says.
Andries van Rhyn, operations manager at Fall Creek South Africa, said the correct genetics still had to reach the farm as healthy, uniform plants with strong root systems and the correct identity.
He says nursery selection, traceability and biosecurity directly affected orchard establishment and long-term performance. Producing a finished nursery plant took roughly 14 to 18 months, depending on season and stock, making forward planning important.
“Quality plants do not guarantee a successful crop, but poor-quality plants can limit the crop before production even begins,” he says.
