Glen Doll is leading the charge of the ‘next generation’ of summer fruiting raspberry varieties and is set to make a large impact in the UK soft fruit market, a leading consultant has said.

Janet Allen of ADAS said that four varieties are emerging as challengers to the established raspberry varieties Glen Ample, Tulameen and Octavia.

These are the early variety Malling June, the as yet unnamed mid-season 9062E-1, the mid-season Canadian-produced Cowichan and the mid-to late season variety Glen Doll.

Allen, who was speaking at a BIFGA technical day in Kent last week, predicted that Glen Doll would come to replace Glen Ample. The late bud bearing variety features very even bud break from top to bottom, round to slightly conic berries, and a flavour that is at least the equal if not better than Ample, she explained.

Its other benefits are said to include superior yield and shelf life than Ample, tall, stout and spine free canes, and extremely low susceptibility to cane botrytis and spur blight infection.

Allen also stressed that Malling Juno is displaying huge potential for protected cropping, with buds breaking as early as March. The berries are evenly set, bright and cohesive, and have a better shelf life than Glen Moy, and it is also regarded as being easier to pick.

9062E-1, which has come from the SCRI breeding programme, scores particularly highly on flavour, Allen said, even outperforming Tulameen in taste trials. She added that it was easy to pick, had a good shelf life, and though it is ultimately well suited for machine harvesting, it also has potential for the fresh market.

Allen opined that Cowichan could come to be seen as a replacement for Tulameen for some growers, with benefits including good tolerance to raspberry root rot. Although it is as yet unclear who will be handling the variety in the UK, Allen insisted that it would definitely be available in this country.

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