易胜博官网

On a cool spring New England day in 2013, young kiwiberry vines were planted at the University of 易胜博官网鈥檚 , beginning a now-decade old research breeding program for a crop that may one day be commonplace in the region鈥檚 agricultural production. Led by (NHAES) scientist , the kiwiberry research program鈥檚 goal is to develop varieties that are both highly adapted to grow in the northeast and have flavor and nutritional characteristics sought out by consumers. And while the crop breeding program has developed and evaluated over 4,000 breeding lines and prioritized 18 for potential commercialization, the scientific process has reached a watershed point: Which varieties will do best across a highly diverse set of farms and locations in the northeast?

Now, thanks in part to a grant from the USDA鈥檚 (NE SARE) program awarded in April 2023, Hale is taking the 易胜博官网鈥檚 kiwiberry breeding and research program on the road by distributing vines to regional specialty crop farmers. The effort involves providing 42 specialty crop farmers鈥攍ocated throughout New England, as well as in Maryland, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania鈥攚ith vines from 易胜博官网鈥檚 breeding program as well as training farmers in planting and maintaining the vines, harvesting, post-harvest handling, and marketing the fruit. In addition to establishing new on-farm pilot enterprises and the first formal kiwiberry farmer network in the region, the work of these select farmers will directly inform kiwiberry research and commercialization efforts at 易胜博官网.

鈥淭he specialty crop producers in our region are eager to innovate, and an entirely novel crop like kiwiberry represents a great opportunity to diversify their operations and distinguish themselves in the market,鈥� said Hale, associate professor in the department of agriculture, nutrition, and food systems at the . 鈥淏ut new enterprises are always risky, and a long-term perennial fruit crop like kiwiberry requires significant initial costs with a 4- to 5-year return on investment.鈥�

Hale added, 鈥淚n such cases, it is essential that we find ways to help buffer farmers from such risks so that they can explore the potential of new enterprises. The funding from NE SARE is what makes this possible.鈥�

易胜博官网's Kiwiberry Vineyard...From Humble Beginnings

When the first kiwiberry plants were grown and the first vineyard established at the 易胜博官网 Woodman Horticultural Research Farm in 2013, little was known about this underutilized crop that Hale envisioned as potentially adding value to New England farm operations. The region is home to many small, specialty crop farms鈥�, 鈥� which often face higher production and marketing costs, and often cannot take on additional uncertainty of incorporating new crops with limited supporting information.

According to Anton Bekkerman, director of the NH Agricultural Experiment Station, starting a breeding program for a novel crop involves risk and a significant initial investment of time, effort and funding. However, Agricultural Experiment Stations鈥攚hich support world-class scientists to conduct long-term research鈥攅nable a well-calculated risk, buttressed by rigorous research, to turn such ideas into successful innovations.

鈥淲ith projects like 易胜博官网鈥檚 kiwiberry breeding and research program, there鈥檚 often no guarantee that it will lead to a commercial product,鈥� said Bekkerman. 鈥淗owever, it鈥檚 programs like this, and the scientists leading them, that produce discoveries that our farmers and regional food systems can benefit from.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 exciting to see this breeding program ask the natural next question: Can the successes seen on a research farm be generalized across commercial operations?鈥� he added.

Kiwiberries: A New Opportunity for Regional Farmers

鈥淥ur smaller Northeastern farms can use kiwiberries to really make their businesses stand out, providing fresh fruit directly to consumers or to value-added producers for use in various products, like beverages, sauces and jams and jellies...And they can do this with just a few vines, or by growing hundreds of vines across an acre or more.鈥� ~ Iago Hale, associate professor of Agriculture, Nutrition and Food Systems

of Northfield, NH, planted 12 kiwiberry vines from the 易胜博官网 vineyard this year. Kiwiberries offers this fourth-generation farm, which has been operating continuously for nearly a century, a new possible venture as well as the opportunity to contribute to the growing kiwiberry research at 易胜博官网, said Laura Bartlett, marketing manager and farm laborer with Kenyon Acres.

鈥淚鈥檇 never heard of kiwiberries until 2016, when I tried kiwiberry wine and loved it,鈥� Bartlett added. 鈥淪o when I saw the request for farms to participate in the kiwiberry program, I jumped at the opportunity.鈥�

Morgan Hill, head of in Lancaster, NH, cites a similar reason: The chance to grow their offerings and complement existing operations.

鈥淲e want to grow our farm by diversifying our forestry and agricultural practices beyond sugaring with a focus on niche products that support our agrotourism projects,鈥� Hill said. 鈥淎 kiwiberry vineyard would be a delicious and peculiar novelty for visitors to our region and provide a sweet new seasonal flavor to our offerings on the mountain.鈥�

Kiwiberries: A Perennial Plant Supporting听Soil Health

As perennial plants, kiwiberries offer soil health benefits over annual crops and can be grown on less-than-ideal land with slopes and rocky soil. 鈥攐谤 鈥攚ith horizontal fruit-bearing canopies approximately 6 feet above the ground, kiwiberry plants offer space and shade underneath for growing complementary understory crops and/or raising small livestock like chickens. In this way, kiwiberries can serve as a profitable keystone component in a portfolio of diverse production systems, said Hale.

鈥淥ur smaller Northeastern farms can use kiwiberries to really make their businesses stand out, providing fresh fruit directly to consumers or to value-added producers for use in various products, like beverages, sauces and jams and jellies,鈥� Hale added. 鈥淎nd they can do this with just a few vines, or by growing hundreds of vines across an acre or more.鈥�

鈥淏ut to get there, we first need to provide hands-on training to farmers interested in cultivating this exciting crop鈥攚ith 42 small pilot vineyards now underway across the region, we鈥檙e well on our way.鈥�

This material is based on work supported by the NH Agricultural Experiment Station through joint funding from the (under Hatch award number 1017760) and the state of 易胜博官网. Funding for kiwiberry distribution and education comes from Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) project LNE23-459.