Säkra val av frukt- och bärsorter för odling i Sverige

The project Quality Assurance of Fruit and Berry Plants was initiated in 2012 through collaboration between several stakeholders in nursery production, advisory services, research, and home gardening, with the aim of developing a long-term and sustainable system for the evaluation of fruit and berry cultivars adapted to Swedish growing conditions. Since 2016, the project has been continued by Elitplantstationen in cooperation with partner organizations. Within the framework of the project, new and lesser-known cultivars have been grown in different climatic zones in Sweden, with a focus on cultivars that, following evaluation, can be propagated and made available to Swedish plant producers and consumers. The cultivars have been assessed annually based on fundamental horticultural traits such as winter hardiness, growth, fruit set, yield and plant health, as well as phenological data including bud break, flowering, harvest time, and dormancy onset. An overall cultivation value has been determined for each cultivar, with particular emphasis on traits most relevant for home gardening and reliable yields. All data have been compiled in a database. The results demonstrate that long-term field trials are necessary to identify reliable cultivars. The report describes those cultivars that, after at least 5–10 years of evaluation, have shown particularly good adaptation and can therefore be recommended for cultivation under Swedish climatic conditions.