Fontana bred to produce more fruit per acre while simplifying production,
Pairwise has launched Fontana, a new blackberry variety developed for commercial fresh-market production. Pairwise said the blackberry is designed to help growers increase productivity while simplifying production and harvest, with a compact plant architecture, an earlier and more condensed fruiting window, and high-quality fruit.
“We started with a great berry and improved the plant around it,” said Ryan Bartlett, chief technology officer at Pairwise. “Fontana helps growers produce significantly more fruit per acre while simplifying some of the most labor-intensive parts of blackberry production, making it a true win-win-win – for growers, for retailers, and for consumers, who enjoy high-quality, delicious fruit that’s more seasonally available.”
Powered by its proprietary Fulcrum Platform, Pairwise accelerates the development of climate-resilient, nutritious, and sustainable crops.
Fontana was built from a Plant Sciences Genetics (PSG) variety selected for its exceptional flavour and fruit quality. Pairwise developed the Fontana blackberry with a compact architecture that reaches approximately 3.5 to 5 feet, about half the height of a conventional blackberry plant.
The smaller architecture allows Fontana blackberries to be planted at higher densities while requiring no pruning and minimal trellis labor. Combined with an earlier and more concentrated harvest window, these characteristics can increase production per acre and make plants easier to manage, harvest and grow in more locations with an early production window.
Pairwise said Fontana is the first in a pipeline of blackberry varieties under development, which include thornless and seedless blackberries. Together, the pipeline is intended to improve the economics and sustainability of blackberry production while delivering high-quality fruit with characteristics consumers value.
