Maine Public highlights UMaine wild blueberry research
Maine Public spoke to YongJiang Zhang, assistant professor of plant physiology, and Rachel Schattman, assistant professor of sustainable agriculture, about the ways in which climate change may benefit Maine wild blueberry growers. Zhang, who studies how wild blueberries respond to warmer temperatures, said that warmer temperatures will extend the berries’ growing season, and biochar can be used to retain moisture in the soil in dry conditions. “They have more time to accumulate carbohydrates or sugars, and they have more time to grow,” he said. Schattman is studying whether a new type of inexpensive shallow well can be used to irrigate wild blueberries. “There’s definitely a lot of room in the wild blueberry industry to invest in irrigation, but the other part of that that doesn’t get talked about nearly enough is water source development. So can people get the water to put it on their fields to begin with? It can be quite expensive. Most people dig deep wells, which can be very expensive to drill,” Schattman said. The Lewiston Sentinel shared the Maine Public report.