This year soft-fruit plant specialist Hargreaves Plants has sold a significant number of blueberry plants into the rapidly expanding UK market. Next year the plan is to develop much more in terms of plant numbers, healthy plant stock and selected varieties.
After an extended study tour of US breeders and blueberry plant raisers, Rupert Hargreaves, commercial director of Hargreaves Plants said "I believe there is a real commercial opportunity for blueberries to be an important soft fruit crop in the UK. The range of breeding programmes around the world and the wide selection of varieties able to adapt in the UK is really encouraging."
Hargreaves is planning to create a new propagation nursery from which plants will be available to growers between Autumn 2005 and Spring 2006. "From our knowledge there is virtually no stock available for planting earlier and certainly high- health stock is not around," said Hargreaves.
In most intensive blueberry production areas, plants are grown strictly to order and it is Hargreaves Plants’ intention to provide this facility to UK blueberry producers.
"We are able to access leading sources of growing information now," said Hargreaves. "We have an exclusive consultant, Dr Reto Neuweiler, recognised as a foremost authority in the EU. Soon we plan to recruit a full time experienced technical manager for the crop."
The firm is convinced that the UK future for blueberries is very good as consumption is rising rapidly."If the fruit marketing companies do as professional a job with this crop as for strawberries and raspberries then we could look for a premium on home produced fruit," said Hargreaves, adding that his firm has already received a "great deal of enthusiastic support from retailers."
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