Production performance of blueberry cultivars under high-altitude tropical conditions over a production cycle

Abstract

ABSTRACT Blueberries have gained popularity due to their nutritional value. Colombia’s suitability for production is due to its relatively stable climate, which allows it to export blueberries to other countries when they are out of season. Despite the crop’s economic importance, uncertainties remain regarding the selection of the most suitable cultivars. This research aimed to evaluate the performance of three southern highbush blueberry cultivars over a production cycle under high-altitude tropical climatic conditions in Colombia. Cultivars were established under different planting densities, and cumulative yields were interpreted in relation to these conditions. A repeated measures design was adopted, with cultivars as the between-subjects factor and evaluation time as the within-subject factor. Variables evaluated included fruit weight per plant (FW), mean individual fruit weight (IFW), total number of fruits (TNF), and fruit size. Repeated-measures ANOVA, trend analysis, and autocorrelation were applied, along with characterization of fruit size and quality. Yield peaks occurred during key export months, with production increasing approximately every five weeks across all cultivars. ‘Biloxi’ (15.0 t ha-1) maintained stable yields, ‘Legacy’ (7.7 t ha-1) showed the lowest performance. In contrast, ‘Victoria’ (26.9 t ha-1) exhibited the highest performance, associated with better acclimation, producing a higher proportion of medium and large fruits with high quality, despite a slight decrease in IFW. These results highlight the importance of selecting cultivars to maximize productivity and export potential.