Mikko Raatikainen. (1978). Puolukan sato, poiminta ja markkinointi Pihtiputaan kunnassa. Silva Fennica vol. 12 no. 2 article id 4996. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.a14850

English title: The berry yield, picking, and marketing of Vaccinium vitis-idaea in the commune of Pihtipudas, Central Finland.

Original keywords: puolukka; marjanpoiminta; puolukkasato; Pihtipudas; luonnonmarjat; luonnonmarjojen kauppa

English keywords: cowberry; Finland; Vaccinium vitis-idaea; lingonberry; berry yield; income; sale of berries

Abstract | View details | Full text in PDF | Author Info

A study on the lingonberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea L.) was made in 1976. The berry yield was studied by picking along 17 lines, each 1,000 m long. The picking and use of lingonberry were studied by an inquiry addressed to the families engaged in such an occupation. The marketing of the lingonberry was investigated by interviewing purchasers, and by means of reports based on purchasing certificates of the purchacers. The total yield of lingonberry in Pihtipudas was 1.2 million kg or 18 kg per hectare of productive forest. Only 7% of the total yield of the berry was picked. 47% of the lingonberries picked were used by the families themselves, 48% were sold and 5% were used for other purposes. The families who sold lingonberries earned, on an average, 350 Fmk.

The PDF includes a summary in Finnish.

Raatikainen, E-mail: mr@mm.unknown

Category : Research article

article id 115, category Research article

Marjut Turtiainen, Kauko Salo, Olli Saastamoinen. (2011). Variations of yield and utilisation of bilberries (Vaccinium myrtillus L.) and cowberries (V. vitis-idaea L.) in Finland. Silva Fennica vol. 45 no. 2 article id 115. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.115

Keywords: bilberry; cowberry; total berry yield; yield variation; utilisation of wild berries

Abstract | View details | Full text in PDF | Author Info

So far, only rough estimates for the utilisation rates of wild berries in Finland have been available. One reason for this is that there has been a lack of empirical-knowledge-based studies concerning total yields of wild berries and their yield variations. This study had three aims: 1) total bilberry and cowberry yields of an average crop year were calibrated for different (abundant and poor) crop years using the inventory data on wild berries collected by the Finnish Forest Research Institute (1997–2008); 2) national utilisation rates of bilberries and cowberries were calculated for three different berry years 1997–1999; and 3) regional utilisation rates of these berry species were calculated for the year 1997. According to calculations, annual bilberry yields in Finland vary from 92 to 312 million kg. For cowberry, the range of variation in total berry yields is from 129 to 386 million kg. It was also found that approximately the same proportion of the total yield of bilberries (i.e. 5–6%) was collected between 1997 and 1999. Utilisation rates of cowberries were also quite constant varying from approximately 8% to nearly 10%. In 1997, bilberries and cowberries were utilised most intensively in the eastern parts of the country and in the Oulu-Kainuu region. The results of this present study describe the situation before the phenomenon of foreign pickers. It can be presumed that commercial wild berry picking by migrant collectors has so far affected both national and regional utilisation rates of wild berries.

Turtiainen, University of Eastern Finland, P.O. Box 111, FI-80101 Joensuu, Finland E-mail: marjut.turtiainen@uef.fi
Salo, Finnish Forest Research Institute, Joensuu Research Unit, Joensuu, Finland E-mail: ks@nn.fi
Saastamoinen, University of Eastern Finland, P.O. Box 111, FI-80101 Joensuu, Finland E-mail: os@nn.fi

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