Marco R. Butera is an international consultant specialising in berry crops – including blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and blackberries – with particular expertise in substrate-grown blueberry production. Through his BetterBerries brand, he has worked in nearly 20 countries across Europe, the Middle East and Asia. For the past year, he has been advising Blue Farm, Greece’s largest substrate-grown blueberry producer, located in the Eastern Macedonia and Thrace region. His latest visit took place in mid-June, during the peak harvest of the Duke variety.
© Marco R. Butera – BetterBerries
Marco R. Butera – BetterBerries
“From the very beginning, Blue Farm was designed to operate to the highest standards. Walking through the plantation, you immediately appreciate the teamwork behind every detail. Together with its investors, the company recognised from the outset a fundamental principle: in high-value substrate-grown berry production, ongoing technical support based on international experience is not a cost but an investment. It allows mistakes to be corrected – and, more importantly, prevented. Every mistake avoided means safeguarded production and more efficient use of resources.”
© Marco R. Butera – BetterBerriesThe Global Berry Specialist works with Blue Farm through a collaboration between BetterBerries and Hortitool Consulting on this specific project. “The results are immediately evident in the fruit itself. On the Duke variety, I recorded berry sizes exceeding 22 mm, with plants carrying a heavy but well-balanced and well-exposed crop, a condition that also facilitates faster harvesting. However, what impressed me most was the root development in the new plantations. In less than three months, the plants had completely colonised 35-litre pots – a result that is far from guaranteed in substrate production. This is precisely the objective the system is designed to achieve, and seeing it accomplished so convincingly demonstrates that every component of the production system is working in harmony: the substrate, the container, irrigation, planting material quality and crop establishment.”
“When the root system occupies the entire volume of the container so quickly, and vegetative growth progresses at the same pace, the crop’s production potential for the following season increases significantly. It becomes entirely possible to produce plants capable of yielding well over one kilogramme of fruit in their very first commercial harvest, with a direct impact on the return on investment.”
Butera visits the farm regularly throughout the season. “The progress is tangible, from the installation and continuous monitoring of drainage collection points to the successful establishment of new plantings and a production standard that improves with every visit. It is also worth remembering that Blue Farm already had very solid foundations. Before entering commercial production, the company devoted three years to trials, comparing varieties grown both in open field and in containers, using different substrates and irrigation systems. That wealth of experience is now reflected in its day-to-day technical decisions.”
Why is substrate-grown blueberry production so demanding?
“Because there is virtually no margin for error. In field-grown production, provided the soil is suitable and properly prepared, it acts as a buffer and helps mitigate the effects of any inaccuracies. In containers, however, the root system is confined to a limited volume of substrate, meaning the plant depends entirely on what it receives every day through fertigation. Growers must keep the pH within the optimum range for blueberries, monitor salinity, and manage drainage correctly. In addition, each variety has its own water requirements and, in some cases, different nutritional needs. Water quality and root health also play a crucial role.”
“When a significant mistake is made, the plant does not take weeks to show the effects. It responds within days. This is a crop that demands constant attention and daily management.”
© Marco R. Butera – BetterBerriesFertigation management is the key to success
“Fertigation is the engine that drives the entire production system and must be managed on a day-to-day basis. In substrate cultivation, every drop of water and every nutrient reaches the plant exclusively through the dripper—there is no soil reserve that roots can draw upon. pH directly affects the availability of nutrients, starting with iron, while comparing the electrical conductivity of the incoming nutrient solution with that of the drainage allows growers to determine whether the root system is performing under optimal conditions or experiencing stress,” explains Butera.
“It is rather like driving a car at a steady speed. You begin with a set course, but bends, junctions and unexpected obstacles require you to slow down or adjust your direction. The same principle applies to fertigation. Weather conditions, crop phenology and varietal characteristics are constantly changing the plant’s requirements, meaning that irrigation parameters must be adjusted daily rather than set once and forgotten. When fertigation is managed correctly, the benefits are reflected in fruit size, firmness and overall productivity. When it is not, the consequences are immediate, affecting plant health, yield, fruit quality and even the production potential of the following season.”
How important is technology?
“Technology plays a vital role, but it should be seen for what it really is: a decision-support tool, not an autopilot. At Blue Farm, fertigation is managed using state-of-the-art sensors and continuous monitoring, supported by a drip irrigation system equipped with drainage collection and analysis facilities. Having real-time data on temperature, substrate moisture, electrical conductivity (EC), and drainage enables problems to be prevented rather than addressed after they have already occurred.”
However, there is one limitation that should not be underestimated: over time, sensors can drift out of calibration and begin providing data that no longer accurately reflects field conditions. “For this reason, they must be checked regularly and verified against independent measuring instruments. Final decisions should never be based on a single data point, but rather on the combined interpretation of information gathered from the drainage monitoring station, the sensors installed throughout the crop and prevailing weather conditions. Only by integrating all these sources of information can growers make the most effective management decisions, day after day,” Butera emphasises.
Duke blueberries and the future of the Northern Highbush segment in Europe
© Marco R. Butera – BetterBerries“The results achieved with Duke are the outcome of getting the fundamentals right: maintaining pH and EC within their optimum ranges, balancing crop load through pruning, continuously monitoring drainage, tailoring irrigation to the variety, and, of course, using high-quality water and planting material. The figures speak for themselves. Although harvesting has yet to be completed, the farm has already reached around 105% of the production originally forecast for 2026 for this variety,” says Butera.
Among Northern Highbush cultivars, Duke remains the benchmark thanks to its earliness, but also because it is the first variety to reveal any imbalance in crop management. “Whenever pH, electrical conductivity or fertigation move outside their optimum range, Duke is invariably the first variety to respond. That is why I consider it the plantation’s true ‘sentinel’. It is worth remembering, however, that Duke was released in 1987 by the USDA breeding programme in collaboration with the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station. It is a dependable variety, but it is now approaching forty years of age. Looking ahead to the future of the Northern Highbush segment in Europe, more recent cultivars offer significantly higher levels of productivity and fruit quality, with clear advantages in berry size, firmness and shelf life. I believe this is the direction in which the industry should be moving.”
The market itself is evolving in the same direction. “The favourable production window that Europe benefited from for many years is gradually narrowing,” Butera points out. “Peru has extended its production season, bringing shipments forward and supplying record volumes to the European market, with exports increasing by more than 160% during the first part of the 2025/26 season. At the same time, Eastern European countries such as Romania are rapidly bringing hundreds of newly planted hectares into production, many of them using substrate-based systems and premium varieties capable of being harvested from mid-June onwards.
“In this scenario, the calendar advantage that once supported the widespread adoption of Duke is becoming increasingly less significant. Today, competitiveness depends above all on fruit quality and the precision of agronomic management. Large berry size has become an essential requirement in many European markets, while post-harvest performance is now a decisive factor for export success.”
© Marco R. Butera – BetterBerriesLabour remains the industry’s biggest challenge
Despite the technical advances achieved in recent years, labour continues to be the greatest constraint facing the blueberry industry. “In many countries, harvesting accounts for between 20% and 25% of total production costs, while finding reliable workers is becoming increasingly difficult. It is therefore no surprise that Europe’s larger commercial growers are primarily asking me for agronomic strategies and varietal choices that can spread the harvest over a longer period, reduce labour peaks and, where feasible, pave the way for mechanical harvesting.”
People and training make the difference
While technology and agronomy are fundamental, Butera believes the human factor ultimately determines success. “People are the variable that truly makes the difference. Two farms may operate under the same climatic conditions, grow the same variety, use the same water, the same substrate and the same technology, yet achieve completely different results. The difference lies in how the team observes the crop, interprets the data, uses the available tools, and responds to problems. That is why training is one of the areas where a consultant invests most of their time. “The day-to-day management and operational decisions remain the responsibility of the farm team, who work in constant dialogue with us. My role is to provide a structured methodology together with the perspective gained from supporting berry businesses across many different countries, helping transform field observations and data into effective technical decisions.”
But knowledge, he adds, is never a one-way process. “I continue to learn from the people who work in the field every day. Over the past few months, perhaps the most valuable lesson has been seeing how the Blue Farm team has adapted its management practices to local conditions, interpreting a climate that has become increasingly challenging – even in Greece. The ability to organise irrigation and harvesting around periods of extreme heat comes from direct practical experience. Once these solutions have been refined and consolidated, they become part of the company’s technical know-how and a valuable asset for the future.”
For further information:
Marco R. Butera – Global Berry Specialist
BetterBerries
[email protected]
betterberries.it