Small Fruit News

The Southern Region Small Fruit Consortium posts articles and sends the Small Fruit News to subscribers four times annually.

  • Dr. Elina Coneva, Fruit Crops Extension Specialist and W. A. Jr. & C. Dozier Endowed Professor, Department of Horticulture, Auburn University Studies to establish the feasibility of growing Pierce’s Disease (PD) resistant, predominantly European grape hybrids are ongoing at Auburn University, Alabama since 2010 https://www.asevcatalyst.org/content/early/2020/07/06/catalyst.2020.19008. We have evaluated advanced selections with early-, mid-, and late season of ripening trained to the traditional vertical shoot […]

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  • Ouachita a 2003 release from Division of Agriculture fruit breeding program  By Fred Miller – July 28, 2020  Ouachita blackberry, a 2003 thornless variety from the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, received the Outstanding Fruit Cultivar Award from the Fruit Breeding Professional Interest Group of the American Society of Horticultural Science.  Read the full article on […]

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  • Patrick Conner, University of Georgia – Tifton Campus  ‘RubyCrisp’ is a new muscadine cultivar released from the University of Georgia muscadine breeding program. ‘RubyCrisp’ was selected from a cross of ‘Supreme’x‘Tara’ and was tested as Ga 8-1-338 in replicated trials in Tifton, GA. Single vine replicates were planted in randomized order in 2012. Vines were spaced […]

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  • Renee Threlfall, Research Scientist, University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture  The Arkansas Quality Wine program, or AQW, will set quality standards for Arkansas-made wine, provide professional development for growers and winemakers and entice consumers to taste Arkansas wines. The program will be established in the fall of 2020 as part of a project funded […]

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  • Tim McCoy, Extension Associate with the Virginia Tech Pesticide Programs and Virginia State Liaison to the IR-4 Project More than 40% of your daily consumption comes from crops that are deemed by the USDA to be “minor” or “specialty” crops. These commodities are only minor in comparison to the major crop groups like corn, soybean, cotton, wheat, etc. These minor crops […]

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  • Douglas G. Pfeiffer, Department of Entomology, Virginia Tech   When the fruit are in, it is easy to think about putting the sprayer away.  But sometimes there are insect issues that can be addressed in post-harvest, fall or winter periods.  Let’s take up a few now.  Grape  In general, it is advisable to maintain healthy foliage as […]

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  • E. Barclay Poling, Professor Emeritus, NC State & Master Licensee for Lassen Canyon Strawberry Nursery; and Whit Jones, Extension Agent (retired), Duplin County & Farm Manager, Cottle Strawberry Nursery  In this paper, we wish to simply report our findings from a strawberry variety and advanced selection trial at a location in Eastern, NC (Cottle Farms, Faison), over the […]

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  • Amanda McWhirt, Horticulture Specialist, University of Arkansas  In early November of 2019 a cold front moved across the Southeast on Veterans day, and brought drops in temperature of 40-50°F across the state of Arkansas. Lows temperatures dipped to 13-14 °F statewide on Tuesday November 12th, 2019 and in some cases set new low temperature records […]

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  • Rebecca A. Melanson, Extension Plant Pathologist, Mississippi State University, and Aaron Cato, IPM Specialist, University of Arkansas Diagnosis is the first step in pest management. It is first necessary to know the cause of a problem before appropriate management methods can be implemented. Management methods that do not accurately address the problem at hand can […]

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  • Call for Proposals 2020

    Call for Research and Outreach Proposals for Funding from the Southern Region Small Fruit Consortium The Southern Region Small Fruit Consortium (SRSFC) requests proposals for calendar year 2020 to support pertinent applied research and outreach activities on small fruit crops in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. The Consortium […]

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