Raspberry and blackberry breeding

Title: The East Malling Rubus Breeding Consortium

Funders: Berry Gardens Growers Ltd, Blaise Plants, East Malling Services, Lubera, Onubafruit, Perfection Fresh, The Greenery, Tobi, WB Chambers

Term: April 2015 to present

Raspberry breeding began at East Malling over 100 years ago and 36 varieties have been released to UK and overseas growers since then. Notable introductions include the late summer fruiting raspberry ‘Octavia’ which straddles the summer and autumn fruiting seasons, and ‘Autumn Bliss’ which was released in 1984, the first primocane raspberry to be bred for UK conditions. Funding was received from government for many years and more recently from the Horticultural Development Council until 2009. Since then, the programme has been funded by private companies, many of whom have first refusal on selections and named varieties that are released to the industry. The East Malling Rubus Breeding Consortium was set up in 2015 to capitalise on long-term raspberry breeding on the site and work funded by East Malling Services and Lubera in a partnership to develop varieties suited to the amateur market. Following the release of ‘Malling™ Bella’ and ‘Malling™ Charm’ in 2017, the consortium was expanded in 2019 and is led by NIAB plant breeder Feli Fernandez.

The project

The breeding programme budget is split between raspberry (6570%) and blackberry (30-35%), although blackberry breeding is still in its infancy. Of the raspberry budget, one quarter is spent on floricane fruiting varieties, one quarter on primocane fruiting varieties and half on double cropping varieties. The blackberry budget is split half and half on floricane and primocane varieties. Key breeding objectives for raspberry include high fruit quality and shelf-life, high yield and fruit size, simple cane architecture with ease of picking, pest and disease resistance and environmental adaptation.

Results

The most recent and successful primocane varieties to be released are ‘Malling™ Bella’ and ‘Malling™ Charm’.

Malling™ Bella is a mid-season primocane variety, which is well adapted to UK and southern European conditions. It is suited for double cropping and longcane production. Berries are attractive (Figure 1), mid-red in colour with excellent flavour and shelf-life. Mean berry weight is 7g and the fruit maintains good size throughout the season. Growth habit is upright, with well displayed fruits (Figure 2), allowing for rapid picking. To date, no disease issues have been reported for the variety. ‘Malling™ Bella’ is proving very popular with Spanish growers and in the UK, is increasingly being employed for long-cane production. In total, 3.5 million plants were produced in 2022.

Malling™ Charm is an early primocane-fruiting variety, which is suited to cool climates and is not suitable for double cropping. The berries are attractive, bright and pale red in colour (Figure 3), with excellent sweet, juicy flavour. Berries are large, with average weight of 6.7g. Growth habit is upright (Figure 4) with well displayed fruit, allowing fast picking. No disease issues have been reported for Malling™ Charm so far.

Adam Whitehouse, Senior Plant Breeder