Raspberry cultivars: What's new? What's succeeding? Where are breeding programs headed?

Breeding programs around the world are facing challenges placed on them by their marketplace, production regions, and funding and are responding by developing cultivars that successfully meet the needs of the marketplace. Since the last review in 2002, there have been at least 36 cultivars released. Some of these cultivars are already becoming "new" standards and complementing or replacing the old standards to serve as the backbone for a thriving red raspberry industry worldwide. In addition to high yields of excellent quality fruit, the objectives that need to be addressed in breeding new cultivars cited by most programs are root rot and Raspberry bushy dwarf virus (RBDV) resistance. Additional goals mentioned centered around traits based on the use of the fruit, and adaptation to specific local environments. Many programs remain willing to exchange germplasm, with increasing paperwork. An emerging concern with germplasm exchange is the difficulty meeting phytosanitary requirements.