Factors Contributing to the Increase in Productivity in the Wild Blueberry Industry

Cultivated blueberries (V. corymbosum L. and V. ashei Reade) grow on 19,500 ha and account for nearly 60% of the blueberry production in North America. They are propagated and planted through out the world. Cultivated production doubled from 1980 from just over 45.5 million kg to an average of over 91 million kg a year (Holbeine, 1991; Yarborough, 2002b). Most of the gains in production from cultivated blueberries has come from increases in the number of acres planted, with the largest expansion occurring in the Pacific Northwest and Southeast, but improved varieties and high density plantings have also contributed to the increases (Moore, 1994; Trinka, 1997).