En kunnskapsbasert, klimatilpasset norsk solbærproduksjon

The main idea of KLIMASOL is to increase the competence of the Norwegian agricultural advisory team (NLR) and thereby reduce the economic risk in the Norwegian black currant industry. Improved guidance will be achieved through the development and implementation of methods to identify cultivar traits related to climate and cultivation system, and build on a better understanding of plant physiological processes that affects frost tolerance and phenology. Because of crosses with very different species and genotypes in the breeding history, blackcurrant shows large phenotypic plasticity, and traits like growth, flowering and dormancy are influenced by complex interactions between photoperiod and temperature. The cultivation area for blackcurrant in Norway stretches from Telemark to Troms, and methods to detect flowering time and dormancy will be resource-efficient in breeding, testing and introduction of new varieties in the future. Experiments with blackcurrant cultivars with clinal variation have been conducted under controlled climate. The trials have aimed to study temperature and photoperiod interactions on dormancy initiation and impact on chilling requirements for breaking of dormancy. In 2014 and 2015, experiments were conducted to examine the effects of climatic factors (day/night temperature and photoperiod) and fertilization on berry content (vitamin C and polyphenols). Experiments have been performed for studies of breaking of dormancy at different temperatures (-10, -5, 0, +5, + 10°C) and length of the chilling period (7, 14 and 21 weeks), and subsequent forcing for registration of bud break and flowering. The results are published in scientific journals internationally, and in the growers magazine Norsk Frukt og Bær. Experiments with fertilization of pot grown black currant plants (4 cultivars) was finalized in autumn 2016. Results will be published in Norsk Frukt og Bær, and at growers meetings in 2017. Cultivar collections at three sites have been used for phenological registrations (date of bud break, flowering, fruit ripening, growth cessation and flower initiation) throughout the project period. Fields with cultivars from the Polish, Scottish, Swedish and Norwegian breeding programs have been established in Telemark, Buskerud, Hedmark, Oppland, Sogn, Nordland and Troms. In addition, are varieties and selections from the Russian breeding program at the Kola Peninsula planted in fields in Troms and at NIBIO. Phenological recordings and collection of plant material will be carried out in the fields throughout the growing seasons of 2013-2016. Collected buds will be dissected for determination of time of flower bud formation in cultivars grown at the different geographical locations. Four growers have also established fields with 10 cultivars for machine harvesting. Growth, winter damage and yield will be recorded in these fields. Recording from all fields in the 4 years project period, will be published in papers and at a growers seminar in Drammen in 2017. Field walks and project meeting have been arranged for the project partners and other interested parties from the industry. The blackcurrant breeder from the James Hutton Institute (JHI) in Scotland has visited Norway several times to discuss joint effort and cooperation with the project. Researchers from NIBIO and NMBU visited JHI in August 2016 for discussions and information of results from breeding and research. Both JHI and NIBIO are strongly involved in the newly initiated H2020 project GoodBerry (2016-2020, where a work package on black currant is based on results from KLIMASOL. The project has been invited to present results at a mini-seminar on climate change and blackcurrant production at the University of Aarhus in 2014, and at the ISHS Ribes & Rubus Symposium in USA in 2015. The International Blackcurrant Association has shown great interest in the results from KLIMASOL, and presents regularly results from the project on its website. The project will continue to disseminate results in 2017, nationally and internationally.

Stor avlingsvariajon mellom år er en av de største utfordringene i solbærproduksjonen. Dette skyldes stadig oftere frostskade seint på vinteren og om våren under blomstringen, når frosttoleransen er lav og hyppigheten av frost er høg. Målet med KLIMASOL e r å redusere den økonomiske risikoen i norsk solbærproduksjon ved å finne ny grunnleggende kunnskap om plantefysiologiske reaksjoner på klimafaktorer, og metoder for å identifisere riktige sortsegenskaper relatert til klima og dyrkingssystem. Dette foruts etter en grunnleggende forståelse av plantefysiologiske prosesser som påvirker plantens frosttoleranse og fenologi. På grunn av innkryssing av svært ulike genotyper i sortsforedlingen har solbær stor fenotypisk plastisitet, og egenskaper som blomstring, k vile og vekst blir påvirket av et komplisert samspill mellom daglengde og temperatur. Dyrkingsområdet for solbær i Norge strekker seg fra Telemark til Troms, og med et klima i endring vil metoder som påviser kvile og blomstringstid være ressursbesparende både i sortsforedling og ved utprøving og innføring av nye sorter i framtiden. Sammen med økt kompetanse om effekter av dyrkingssystem kan rådgivingstjenesten tilby produsentene lokalt tilpassede dyrkingsråd som vil redusere avlingsvariasjonen mellom år, og gi stabilt god tilgang på bær til friskkonsum og videreforedling. Med økt bruk av klimaregulerende tiltak i produksjonen, samt en utvidelse av dyrkingsområdet for kommersiell produksjon nordover, vil denne kompetansen få stor betydning både på kort og lang sikt, nasjonalt og internasjonalt. Forskere fra det størst foredlingsprogrammet i solbær, James Hutton Institute i Skottland, vil ha en aktiv rolle i prosjektet.