Project Overview
Commodities
- Fruits: berries (brambles)
Practices
- Crop Production: crop improvement and selection
Summary:
Problem Addressed:
The Missouri Ozarks has suffered environmental and economic depletion due to overreliance on cattle and beef production. There is a small fruit crop which though native to Missouri and having a long history of small-scale cultivation, is seldom grown commercially today. Dewberries have likely been overlooked commercially due to the higher yield potential of upright blackberries and raspberries in fertile, level ground. The dewberry, closely related to raspberries and blackberries, is a distinct type of fruiting bramble which is suited to many environments other than the "ideal" blackberry or raspberry habitats, and are especially valuable in hilly regions. Dewberries can be grown in upland and lowland soils requiring no expensive machinery to cultivate and harvest and add diversity to the landscape and are interworkable with beekeeping, agroforestry, permaculture, vegetable and livestock production.
Dewberries, in the context of this project refers primarily to the species historically known as Rubus villosus, which is now commonly divided into the three species R. flagellaris, R. invisus and R. trivialis (syn. enslenii); this group also comprises the subspecies roribaccus (e.g. 'Lucretia'), geophilus (e.g. 'Austin'), and almus (e.g. 'Foster Thornless'), whose attachments to the various newly divided species are still a matter of debate.
Project's Research Approach and Educational Approach:
Four cultivar trials will be conducted for plot replication. There will be 4 plots and 100 plants. Initial size of each plot will be about 1/8th acre, describing ridge top, plain, and bottomland habitats. Initially 25 plants each at 5x5 foot spacings. In addition to comparative trials of the ones commonly available, samples will be sought from superior wild germplasm and from as many heritage dewberry cultivars as possible.
Sharing via publications including a research article and bulletin.
Succinct Statement of Conclusions:
Two possibly high-yielding wild types were identified. A number of key characteristics (primocane and floricane leaf number, stem shape, relative number of fruit locules/drupelets, etc.) were taken allowing a better understanding of taxonomic relationships between them and between all the genotypes in the sample. We have concluded that the rambling-on-ground method, even with plastic mulch, is not practical for market production. Instead I am now recommending, and attempting to implement, the traditional method used in the early 20th century by Southern fruit farmers who would cut vines back to 2 feet (after fruiting, in the case of dewberry).
Farmer Adoption Action:
Growing community of dewberry growers talking about production.
Project objectives:
Research on existing cultivars as well as selecting new ones is likely to make dewberry cultivation a recognized and practical specialty crop option for southern and central Missouri, and perhaps even to become a signature product of the region. In addition to the fresh-marketed and preserved fruit, the dewberry has also been used as a source of tea (leaves), wine, and vinegar. They are potentially the basis of a wide variety of value-added products.
Dewberries benefit pollinators including honeybees and wildlife including turtles and gamebirds, especially Bob White Quail. Flowers have a lot of nectar and the fruit and shoot tips are eaten by a lot of wildlife. It is easy to exclude wildlife with trellising if growing for fruit, but another market can be growing dewberries for wildlife. Root systems are extensive and help stabilize the soil. Requires very little equipment or physical stamina to cultivate. Can be produced on marginal areas of the farm and in economically depressed portions of the state.
In hilly and "marginal" locations, dewberries may thrive and outperform blackberries. Furthermore, the vine's low and rambling habit may actually be an asset to small and diversified operations where it can be trained upon fences, rock walls, and other existing infrastructural sites rather than requiring dedicated open acreage which could be utilized in other ways. Dewberries can be pollinated by a variety of native pollinators as well as by honeybees, and are an excellent crop to integrate with a beekeeping venture on the farm.
Four cultivar trials will be conducted for plot replication. There will be 4 plots and 100 plants. Initial size of each plot will be about 1/8th acre, describing ridge top, plain, and bottomland habitats. Initially 25 plants each at 5x5 foot spacings. In addition to comparative trials of the ones commonly available, samples will be sought from superior wild germplasm and from as many heritage dewberry cultivars as possible.
Dewberries are especially well suited to the Ozarks, both agronomically and economically. The cultivar 'Lucretia', often said to orginate in North Carolina, was actually (as per some sources) selected from West Virginia during the Civil War era, but in any case it has been grown successfully in sourthern Appalachia for over a century, in climates and soils that closely mirror those of southern Missouri. The Arkansas Ozarks also historically produced dewberries in the early 20th century and are still often found in old home gardens there. Moreover, the wild subspecies or species known as upland dewberry is native to the Ozark uplift, and although it is not noted for high productivity, its tolerance to shade and rocky soils make it a desirable parent stock for any new dewberry crosses, as well as a population from which potentially to select natural cultivars (so-called "nativars") for outstanding traits such as thornlessness or early bearing.
Objectives:
- To evaluate the productivity and winter hardiness of the 3 most widely available dewberries.
- To select the most promising native genotypes to introduce new varieties
- Share findings through a field day, publication of a bulletin, and articles in agricultural publications.