The Russian blue honeysuckle has potential to provide a new fruit crop for prairie growers but unlike many new crops it comes with a significant advantage: an existing market.
Linicera caerulea, also known as honeyberries, sweetberry honeysuckles, edible honeysuckles and haskappu but most commonly called haskap or blue honeysuckle, is in demand in Japan.
The more desirable cultivars produce a waxy, black-skinned berry with tiny seeds. It is about two centimetres long and the diameter of a pencil and has different shapes and sizes of berries depending on the variety.
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University of Saskatchewan researcher Bob Bors has been breeding and developing the blueberry-like fruit for years, but last season discussed marketing possibilities with Japanese buyers.
Haskap has traditionally been grown in northern Japan, but the number of acres dedicated to the farmed crop has been steadily dropping as the city of Tomakomai expands. In only a few years 1,200 acres of production has dropped to 250.
However, demand for the fruit has continued to rise, along with the price.
“Japanese production is down to about 100 tonnes per year,” Bors said during a U of S soils and crops seminar held earlier this month.
“One particular company wants to buy from Canadian growers, if we can deliver it, 300 tonnes beginning three years from now; 600 tonnes in five years and wants 1,200 tonnes per year a decade from now.”
Japanese wholesalers will pay about $10 per kilogram for the fruit after it has landed in Japan, which is up to five times the price of other fruit crops in Canada.
Japanese processors use it in juice, soft drinks, wine, flavoured noodles, cake, candy and preserves. There is also a fresh fruit market.
Russian research indicates yields of between 1.5 and three kg per bush. Results in Saskatoon tests have shown higher yields.
The bushes are hardy enough to survive the harsh conditions found on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, where winter temperatures reach -30 C. However, not all the Japanese varieties have been tested under Canadian conditions. Siberian varieties are hardy to -50 C and plantings at the U of S survived -47 C in 2004.
Haskap flowers are known to survive -7 C and because of the plant’s hardiness some growers are considering the two-metre-high trees as windbreak material.
However, Bors said strong prairie winds will discourage bees during pollination, which could potentially reduce yields.
Bors is growing several thousand seedlings in the field and the greenhouse and has been making crosses from those that produce the largest berries.
Bors began testing the plant in 1998 with Siberian types and now has 35 clones, the largest collection of Russian cultivars in North America. He plans to exchange fruit with the Japanese this summer to obtain a better understanding of how it is used in that market.
“I hope they will also be evaluating our advanced selections and let us know which ones meet their needs the best,” he said.
The U of S breeding program is also working to improve the plant’s ability to retain ripe fruit. The lines that researchers are now using shed their fruit shortly after it reaches maturity.
A Saskatoon area greenhouse has shown interest in producing larger plants to sell into the commercial market that would have a head start in orchards.
Haskap generally produces fruit the first season after planting, but larger plants will produce more than the average nursery seedling.
“The larger plants might be $7 versus $3 for a seedling, but they would come into full production a lot more quickly and that would easily pay off for growers,” Bors said.
The university identified a dozen superior selections last year and pollen compatibility tests this spring and additional fruit evaluations will help further refine selections for the breeding program.
The plants aren’t self pollinating so two or three varieties are necessary to provide fruit. A good supply of wild bees or honeybees is required for good pollination.
Haskap is native to the northern hemisphere, including the eastern Rocky Mountain slopes and the edge of boreal forest fringe. It is usually found in wetlands and Bors said this reflects the plant’s tolerance to wet soil.
“It seems to do well in heavy clays with a pH of 8, but Russian literature suggests a range of five to seven is ideal,” Bors said.
“It would probably do better out of watery areas, but it may do fine in a broad variety of circumstances. More research is necessary.”
He said seedlings are more delicate than most fruit bushes and require watering in the first three years.
“After that we understand that they are relatively drought tolerant.”
Haskap is an early maturing fruit, making it an attractive crop for established fruit growers looking to expand their harvest cycle.
Berries change colour in mid-June and usually ripe within 10 days. The Russian varieties ripen uniformly and tend to drop their fruit soon after it is mature.
“We also would like to identify some later ripening varieties to extend the harvest season,” Bors said.
Researchers think haskap should adapt well to mechanical harvesting.
Bors is trying to encourage a growers group and marketing co-op.
“If several growers work together they can provide some stability of supply and begin working collectively to create marketing opportunities outside of Japan.”
