INTRODUCTION OF RABBITEYE BLUEBERRIES TO THE SOUTHERN PART OF CHINA

Twelve rabbiteye blueberry cultivars have been introduced from North America since 1987 to select for suitable cultivars in the southern part of China. After more than ten years of study on the phenological characteristics of flowering and fruit, the growth performance and fruiting, as well as fruit quality. We showed that most of the 12 cultivars were successfully adapted to the ecological conditions of this area. 'Baldwin', 'Brightwell', 'Gardenbluel, 'Powderblue' and 'Tifblue' were the best varieties and were recommended to be developed first. We extended the experiment to Majiang in Guizhou province in 2000 and this has shown that the southwestern part of China could be even better than the Yangzi River basin for blueberry production.