The berry business continues to be the fastest growing segment of the fruit and vegetable business in the world for more than 15 years. Ukraine, which actively expands production and exports of fresh and frozen berries, does not lag behind these trends.
One of the most important roles in the development of the sector is played by recognized leaders, as they are now commonly called “influencers.” Therefore, EastFruit decided to share information about one of them today. Oleksandr Yareshchenko is a very humble person but he is one of the most prominent berry breeders in the region and he celebrates his birthday today.
A key area of Oleksandr’s work is the selection of dessert varieties of black currants. Anyone who has ever tried black currant berries of the “Black Dessert” variety will immediately understand that this berry has great prospects on the fresh berry market. This destroys the myth that black currants are only suitable for processing. Who knows, perhaps thanks to Oleksandr’s work, black currants will be no less successful than blueberries, not only in the regional, but also in the global market?
By the way, Oleksandr is indeed actively involved in the selection of the blueberries. Oleksandr has repeatedly talked about why Ukraine needs its own selection of blueberries and other berry crops in his speeches and blogs on EastFruit.
Another interesting direction of Oleksandr Yareshchenko’s work is the selection of haskap berries, which are sometimes referred to as “honeysuckle” but we do prefer the shorter version. He believes that haskap can replicate the success of blueberries on global market and calls it a “superberry.” We agree with him and are waiting for new, even more tasty and adapted to industrial cultivation varieties of this superfood berry.
In general, Oleksandr can be called the largest specialist in niche berry crops in the region. He knows a lot about sea buckthorn, elderberry, alpine strawberry, red currant, gooseberry, actinidia and others. What is very important is that he not only has that knowledge, he willingly shares it with farmers from around the world.
We advise you to subscribe to Oleksandr’s page on Facebook, where you can find links to his publications, interviews with him and other useful materials for everyone who is interested in the berry business.
The use of the site materials is free if there is a direct and open for search engines hyperlink to a specific publication of the East-Fruit.com website.
