The 2010 ASHS Annual Conference

Objective(s):
Discuss current goals and challenges to improve fruit quality in small fruit crops and identify production practices that promote their expression.

Small fruit crops are produced for yield and quality, where quality may be defined by fruit size, color, flavor, and human health-promoting compounds, among other attributes. The interactions among cultivar, production practices, and environment determine fruit quality. Thus breeding approaches and horticultural management should be considered integrally. In this workshop, we will explore traits that are important for quality of grapes and berries, how best to improve these traits through breeding and selection, and how environmental factors and production practices influence the expression of these attributes. The workshop will bring together breeders, horticulturists, and physiologists to foster discussion on the nature of genotype x environment interactions that govern quality in small fruit production.