Berries Keeps Growing!

There are currently four NCPN-Berries Clean Plant Centers in the U.S. Programs in Arkansas, North Carolina, Oregon, and California address the specific needs of growers from different regions and growing environments. As with all crop groups in the Network, the Berries network continues to make strides in expanding and improving on services offered.

The Oregon Clean Plant Center Open to Berry Diagnostic Submissions

The diagnostic capacity at the NCPN-Berries Center in Oregon is expanding to provide virus testing to private stakeholders as well as the public. Private breeders will be charged a service fee through an alliance of the Oregon Clean Plant Center (OCPC) and the Oregon State University (OSU) Plant Clinic. The National Clean Plant Network (NCPN) will continue to subsidize costs for public breeders.

Pathogen testing

• We are accepting requests for virus testing by RT-PCR, PCR, ELISA and graft indexing. A list of available pathogen tests will be listed on our website.

• Requests for graft indexing of Rubus into R. occidentalis c.v. Munger, and Fragaria into F. vesca var. semperflorens ‘Alpine’, must be sent by February 28th. We will respond to you with a timeline for when we can receive and graft the material.

Genotypes under controlled import permit

• We accept genotypes under an APHIS Controlled Import Permit.

Introducing accessions to OCPC

• For public breeders to submit accessions into OCPC for virus testing, virus clean-up, and maintenance services (subsidized by NCPN), requests must be sent to Cristian Olaya (olayac@oregonstate.edu) by February 28th. Due to space limitations, the number of allocations per breeding program will be limited. Each program will be notified of the number of allocated accessions on March 7th. At the end of the curation period, breeding materials will be introducedinto the G1/foundation screenhouse. Distributions  will be made by request at an established fee.

Please contact olayac@oregonstate.edu for information on service costs.

FPS in California Offering Import and Testing Services for Berries

Foundation Plant Services, a clean plant center with longstanding quarantine programs for grapes and fruit trees, is now also offering import and testing services for berries. A member of NCPN-Berries because of its management of UC strawberry cultivars, Vaccinium (blueberry), Rubus (blackberry, raspberry), and Fragaria (strawberry) have recently been added to the Controlled Import Permit (CIP) that allows FPS to quarantine material entering the US. In addition to these quarantine services, FPS will offer diagnostic testing for domestic customers with export or other needs.

At the conclusion of the import and testing process, eligible plant material will be released to the sponsor. The addition of CIP services at FPS is expected to help US producers access berry varieties from flourishing global breeding programs. To learn more about the FPS services, visit the FPS website or contact director Maher Al Rwahnih (malrwahnih@ucdavis.edu).