Expanding Blueberry Production into Non-Traditional Production Areas: Northern Chile and Argentina, Mexico and Spain

Blueberry production has recently expanded to low latitude non-traditional production areas including the northern part of Chile and Argentina, Mexico and Spain. All of these areas are characterized for having either low chilling or no-chilling accumulation during "winter", accompanied by warm springs and hot summers. Soil types, pH and fertility varied greatly among the different areas, from 100% sand in Spain, to clay soils in the northern part of Chile. Only southern highbush cultivars are planted in these areas either under plastic tunnels (in Spain and part of Mexico) or without it. The main purpose of these lower latitude production areas is to produce early season blueberries in the Northern or Southern hemisphere. In the case of Mexico however, blueberry production is just starting and it might be even possible to have two crops per year. In Northern Chile, production is located in the Coquimbo Region (latitude 29 degrees S), in Argentina in the Tucuman Province (latitude 27 degrees S), in the Huelva Region in Spain and in Mexico (35 degrees N) in Michoacan (19 degrees N) and Jalisco (17 degrees N). Each of these regions brings new challenges on how to produce high quality blueberry and they will write a complete new chapter on the blueberry production. A good understanding of the physiological processes that regulate dormancy, flower bud induction and differentiation, as well as fruit development in blueberry plants is required for successful commercial production on these areas. This report describes the challenges involved in the southern highbush production system developed in Northern Chile and Argentina, Spain and Mexico focusing on cultivars, special production systems, projected growth and major future challenges for each region.