Cherry
Michigan Cherry Industry Research Priorities
Submitted by:
Cherry Marketing Institute
12800 Escanaba Drive, Suite A
Dewitt, MI 48820
Current Plant Protection Priorities
- IPM Strategies for Spotted Wing Drosophila (SWD)
- Disease protection (alternatives for increasingly difficult disease resistances to SI’s and SDI’s including leaf spot, brown rot, and mildew).
- Insect protection (Plum Curculio, Cherry Fruit Fly, Mites, OBLR, San Jose Scale, and trunk Borers) via chemical and IPM efforts, basic biology and genetics.
Future Plant Protection Priorities
- Emerging parasitoids for SWD.
- Breeding program (leaf spot, Armillaria, etc.).
- MRL issues that impact the export markets.
Current Marketing Priorities
- New and expanded use of cherries- both sweet and tart cherries.
- Pits and ways to reduce them in finished products.
- Production trends world-wide by variety for tart cherries.
Future Marketing Priorities
- Varieties and/or production practices to discover or improve marketable traits, i.e. firmer texter, nutraceutical content, larger size, fresh market, sugar/acid balance, color etc. (high density plantings).
- Market Research
- Production development (IPM / Sustainability).
Other Production Priorities
- Computerized weather station network upgrading.
- Wildlife management issues in tree fruit.
- Ground cover and weed management.
Last Updated: September 2021