Back in 2013, a research breeding program for kiwiberries started off in New England. Led by New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station (NHAES) scientist Iago Hale, the kiwiberry research program’s 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. 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’s Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (NE SARE) program awarded in April 2023, Hale is taking the UNH’s kiwiberry breeding and research program on the road by distributing vines to regional specialty crop farmers. The effort involves providing 42 specialty crop farmers—located throughout New England, as well as in Maryland, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania—with vines from UNH’s breeding program as well as training farmers in planting and maintaining the vines, harvesting, post-harvest handling, and marketing the fruit.
“The 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,” said Hale, associate professor in the department of agriculture, nutrition, and food systems at the UNH College of Life Sciences and Agriculture. “But 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.”
Hale added, “In 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.”
“It’s exciting to see this breeding program ask the natural next question: Can the successes seen on a research farm be generalized across commercial operations?” Anton Bekkerman, director of the NH Agricultural Experiment station said.
New opportunity for regional farmers
Kenyon Acres of Northfield, NH, planted 12 kiwiberry vines from the UNH 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 UNH, said Laura Bartlett, marketing manager and farm laborer with Kenyon Acres.
“I’d never heard of kiwiberries until 2016, when I tried kiwiberry wine and loved it,” Bartlett added. “So when I saw the request for farms to participate in the kiwiberry program, I jumped at the opportunity.”
Value-added products
“Our 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,” Hale added. “And they can do this with just a few vines, or by growing hundreds of vines across an acre or more.”
“But to get there, we first need to provide hands-on training to farmers interested in cultivating this exciting crop—with 42 small pilot vineyards now underway across the region, we’re well on our way.”
For more information:
Nick Gosling
NH Agricultural Experiment Station
UNH College of Life Sciences and Agriculture
Tel: 858-837-2103
nicholas.gosling@unh.edu
Contact the researcher:
Iago Hale
Associate Professor
Iago.Hale@unh.edu
