Companies strengthen collaboration to co-develop raspberry and blackberry genetics tailored for Latin American production
SynergiaBio and Global Plant Genetics (GPG) have established a new genetics partnership to develop and commercialise the next-generation of raspberry and blackberry genetics across South and Central America.
According to a statement, the expanded partnership builds upon the companies’ successful collaboration in representing many raspberry varieties emanating from The James Hutton Institute in the UK.
The partnership has led to several varieties being introduced into key Latin American production regions with “encouraging results”, the groups noted.
Under the new collaboration, SynergiaBio will now play an active co-development role alongside GPG, contributing not only to the varietal evaluations, regional trialling, and commercial scaling of the new plant material, but also in steering the breeding strategy and objectives themselves, through the earliest stages, with a view to identifying those most suitably specifically adapted to the diverse climatic conditions of South and Central America.
The collaboration will focus on combining aspects of yield, fruit size, firmness, and flavour, with the resilience and resistance required for modern export supply chains and generating elite parental lines with traits targeted to modern market and production requirements, the groups confirmed.
“Our experience introducing premium Rubus varieties has shown how important structured development and strong technical support are for growers,” said Rolando Garcia, owner of SynergiaBio.
”This next phase allows us to build longer-term genetic programmes that position South and Central American producers at the forefront of berry innovation, working closely with world-class breeding partners.”
Jamie Petchell, co-founder and director of GPG, explained that Latin America was continuing to evolve as a ”highly strategic” berry region.
”By strengthening our partnership with SynergiaBio and extending our work with James Hutton Institute genetics, we are ensuring that new raspberry and blackberry cultivars are carefully selected, locally adapted and responsibly scaled for long-term commercial success,” he added.
Coordinated trial programmes are expected to commence shortly, the groups outlined, ”reinforcing the partners’ shared commitment to intellectual property integrity, disciplined variety rollout and sustainable growth across the Latin American berry sector”.
