SASKATOON — A University of Saskatchewan research project is laying the groundwork for future breeding of improved saskatoon berry varieties by tackling a problem that has limited saskatoon berry breeding for decades.
Researchers are studying the genetic diversity of saskatoon berries to determine which plants can be successfully crossed and which traits could be used to develop new cultivars with better production and market potential.
“The goal is to see what the biodiversity of saskatoon berries is, and then also understand if that can be used to develop new varieties that can improve saskatoon berry production and … make it more marketable and also more attractive for the consumers,” said Anže Švara, assistant professor of plant sciences at the University of Saskatchewan.
The project is supported through Saskatchewan’s Agriculture Development Fund under the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership.
One of the biggest obstacles facing breeders is that most commercial saskatoon cultivars have four sets of chromosomes, a characteristic that in saskatoons is associated with a form of reproduction that produces seedlings mostly identical to the parent plant.
While that helps preserve existing varieties, it also makes conventional breeding much more difficult.
All commercially produced saskatoons on the Prairies are tetraploid, meaning they have four sets of chromosomes instead of the usual two. Those tetraploid plants are often associated with asexual reproduction through seed, which affects how easily breeders can create new combinations of traits, Švara said.
“This actually limits the breeding of new verities.”
The research team is first trying to determine which plants can be crossed successfully before selecting for desirable characteristics, Švara added.
“The most important goal of this project is first to identify if plants can be even crossed … and then the other is to see if there is diversity in different traits.”
Beneficial traits
Researchers are evaluating characteristics including berry size, yield, plant vigour, flowering time, ripening time and disease resistance.
Ripening time could have practical benefits for growers, Švara said.
Within a single variety, breeders want berries to ripen as uniformly as possible so fields can be harvested in one pass. At the same time, having different varieties ripen at different times could spread harvest and marketing over a longer period.
Disease resistance is another long-term target. Diseases such as fire blight and entomosporium leaf and berry spot can require significant labour and fungicide applications, making natural resistance an attractive breeding goal, Švara said.
The project also uses newer genomic tools that were unavailable during earlier saskatoon research.
“What’s really novel here … is we now have technology … and also approaches that can actually help us push this forward,” Švara said.
Researchers have already begun making new crosses and hope to evaluate the first fruit from those seedlings in about three years.
The current research project is expected to run for about 20 months, although Švara said breeding improved varieties will take much longer.
The Prairie Fruit Growers Association says the work could benefit growers across the Prairies.
“Research is so important,” said executive director Angie Cormier.
“It’s not just for fruit … but all things that are grown and raised here.… Research is … the future, really.”
While saskatoons occupy fewer acres than other fruit crops, Cormier said interest in growing them is increasing.
“We have a handful of growers that grow saskatoons,” she said.
“It’s not as many acres as, say, strawberries, but … we are finding that there are some more farms that are starting to grow saskatoons.”
She believes continued investment in breeding is becoming increasingly important as growers adapt to changing weather conditions.
About the author
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Miranda Leybourne is a Glacier FarmMedia reporter based in Neepawa, Manitoba with eight years of journalism experience, specializing in agricultural reporting. Born in northern Ontario and raised in northern Manitoba, she brings a deep, personal understanding of rural life to her storytelling.
A graduate of Assiniboine College’s media production program, Miranda began her journalism career in 2007 as the agriculture reporter at 730 CKDM in Dauphin. After taking time off to raise her two children, she returned to the newsroom once they were in full-time elementary school. From June 2022 to May 2024, she covered the ag sector for the Brandon Sun before joining Glacier FarmMedia. Miranda has a strong interest in organic and regenerative agriculture and is passionate about reporting on sustainable farming practices. You can reach Miranda at mleybourne@farmmedia.com.
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