Agricultural Biodiversity

Raspberries are supplied to the fresh fruit market and also to commercial processing units, which process it into juice, individually quick frozen (IQF) fruit, purée, or as dried fruit used in different grocery products.

Raspberries require plenty of sun and water for optimal development. Moist conditions are essential but, wet and heavy soils or excess irrigation can cause Phytophthora root rot which is one of the most serious pest problems that the red raspberry plant faces. It is easy to grow and can spread around if not pruned. Raspberries can be seen as garden weeds that grow because of the seeds present in bird droppings.

Regions that are not very hot in summers are ideal for raspberry production, and also it shouldn’t rain in the harvest season. Soil that contains a lot of organic matter is best, and it should also be able to hold water with good drainage. Soils that are very heavy, light, or with bad drainage should not be used for raspberry production.

200-250 centimeters of distance between saplings is enough, if you are going to make use of a tractor. The process of planting is the same as of other fruits; you dig the marked places and put the saplings inside. You should plant at a depth of 20 cm.

Excessive use of nitrogen will make the fruits soft and reduce their value in the market; therefore, fertilizers with nitrogen in them should be used with care. To achieve maximum production, putting 3-4 kilograms of organic fertilizer into the planting holes is best.

A new production method recently was used in which liquid organic fertilizer was successfully used in tomato production during the growing season and this method can also be adapted to organic raspberry production with success.  Usually plants are grown using woven plastic mulches in organic as well as conventional raspberry production because of the fact that it requires less labor.    A number of viruses also attack raspberry and apart from these viruses raspberry is also attacked by fungi, mites and insects.  In raspberry production fungal disease like botrytis-rot can be reduced by using the tunnel growing method.  In Norway it is allowed to use physical or mechanical measures and also biological control in the organic production of red raspberries.

30 centimeters is the height where the rods should be cut off. This should be done right after planting them. Increasing the number of raspberries is best done by collecting shoots and planting them. This is best done in autumn and spring, but the shoots should at least be 15 centimeters in length.

If done properly, raspberry production yields 1000 to 2500 kilos for each hectare.

Harvest is done by picking the fruit twice every week. This can be done more often in hot and dry weather. The picked fruit is then prepared for transport.