July 05, 2019

Berries connect – GoodBerry @ XII International Rubus and Ribes Symposium 2019 in Switzerland

Berries are popular around the world and their consumption has risen extensively in recent years. Production requires considerable technical expertise in order to be able to offer high-quality fruit to consumers and agricultural researchers face some challenges in this respect. Under the theme “Innovative Rubus and Ribes Production for High Quality Berries in Changing Environments” the XII International Rubus & Ribes Symposium was organised from June 25–28, 2019 at the ETH Zurich, Switzerland that brought together 200 berry researchers from around the globe.

The aim of the symposium was to support the development of innovative, resource-efficient, quality-enhancing and sustainable berry-production systems. The 200 participants were able to exchange knowledge and followed 45 scientific presentations as well as over 70 posters on the topics: breeding and genetics, cultivation methods (under glass, on substrate, seedling cultivation, cutting, plant nutrition, irrigation, harvest, etc.), adaptation to climate change, pest and disease control, sensory and nutritional quality, and post-harvest short-term storage of the fruit.

The symposium was organised by Erika Krüger from the University of Geisenheim (HGU) – a consortium partner and work package leader of the GoodBerry project – together with Christoph Carlen from Agroscope, Gunhild Muster from the Weinsberg Education and Research Institute and with the International Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS).

The GoodBerry project was widely represented with two keynotes from project partners as well as one oral presentation and four posters:

Keynote speakers

• Anita Sønsteby (NIBIO): “Flower initiation and dormancy relations of raspberry and black currant and consequences of climate warming for production”
• Dorota Jarret (JHI): “Development and use of genetic tools in Rubus & Ribes breeding at James Hutton Institute”

Oral presentation

• Frank Will (HGU): “Impact of environment and genotype on raspberry constituents”

Posters

• Erika Krüger (HGU) et al. ”Raspberry and Blackcurrant within the EU-Project GoodBerry”
• Erika Krüger (HGU) et al. “First phenological results of Raspberry ‘Glen Ample‘ within the EU-Project GoodBerry”
• Stanislav Pluta (INHORT) et al. “Preliminary evaluation of phenology of blackcurrant (Ribes nigrum L.) cultivar ‘Ben Gairn’ grown in different locations”
• Dorota Jarret (JHI) et al. “Goodberry – An LC-MS metabolomics approach into quantification of environmental and genotypic influences on blackcurrant fruit quality”

For more information about the symposium, please visit the official event website.