US scientists use new technique in hopes of lifting blackberry production
Amanda McWhirt, extension horticulture crop specialist for the Division of Agriculture, is the primary investigator for a research project she said will last about five years, involving the use of what is known as a rotating cross-arm — or RCA — trellis in the cultivation of blackberries. Unlike a traditional, static trellis, on which blackberries grow vertically, the RCA trellis provides a near-horizontal platform that can rotate 100 degrees.
“The idea is that you can rotate it onto one side, so that the flowers come out on the top side,” McWhirt said. “Once flowering is complete, you rotate it 100 degrees, so that all the berries are then on one side of the trellis.”
McWhirt estimated that an RCA trellising system could cost two to three times what growers now pay for traditional trellising, which costs between $3,000-$5,000 an acre. And while an RCA system typically reduces input costs such as plants and chemicals, there may be additional labor costs associated with workers training the blackberry canes to the trellis system. McWhirt and her team plan to evaluate the economics of the system as part of their research, she said.
“The biggest question we’re trying to answer is one of whether growers will get more yield per foot of linear growth with this trellis system,” McWhirt said. “With this system, you actually have fewer plants per acre, so that cost is lower. But you’re actually getting more fruiting laterals per linear foot of row, in theory, so there’s more places where fruit can be produced.”
source: magnoliareporter.com
