Blackcurrant Breeding Report

While a full report on the breeding program is available upon request, below is a summary of the 2025/26 season.

The Blackcurrant Breeding Programme is totally funded by Blackcurrants NZ (BCNZ). The management of the programme is provided by Geoff Langford of Berryworld with support from Stuart Stephens at Waipuna.  Janine Cunniffe joined the breeding team this season to provide technical help and with a view to continuity of the programme.

Key results from 2025/26

• 9 crosses were carried out.
• Approximately 520 seedlings from 2025 crosses are awaiting planting in winter 2026 (G700 series).  These will be evaluated in 2028/29.
• This year the G400 series of seedlings were evaluated.  This material was from crosses carried out in 2022. 17 selections were made.
• 25 samples were harvested of the best selections including the best selection from last season and standards.
• Anthocyanin, acidity and Brix testing was carried out on all selections harvested.
• 2 selections had merit (G403 and G410).  G403 was especially interesting as it was especially late harvesting (27 January) and will be used as a breeding parent to see if this characteristic can be bred from.  Low chill and late harvest are considered to be contradictory, so this objective will be difficult to achieve.
• The original parent plant of Dobson (G203) suffered from multi-shoot disorder but still performed well considering the circumstances.  Nursery propagation is underway at Southern Woods nursery with plants due to be released in winter 2026.
• G312 again performed well and is the next variety chosen for release for grower-based trials.

Priorities for next season

• Propagation of G312
• Further evaluation of the G400’s and first evaluation of the G500’s
• Develop an alternative system for fruit chemistry testing
• Continue the crossing programme with the aim of targeting high yields, high anthocyanins, pest and disease tolerance and later season harvest.  The aim is to continue to produce about 300 seedlings for planting next season

Breeding Objectives

The main objective is to produce cultivars that will provide the New Zealand blackcurrant industry with an economic advantage over their competitors.  This will be achieved by producing cultivars that have:

• Outstanding anthocyanin levels
• Pest and disease resistance
• Seasonal spread, with harvest options from late December to early February
• Consistently high fruit yields
• Growth habits that allow for efficient machine harvesting over many years with minimal inputs
• Low chill requirement
• Suitability for Individually Quick Frozen (IQF) use.

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