cold high-desert crop
Black Currant
Ribes nigrum
A cold-hardy, short-season berry with strong value-added potential and a need for dependable irrigation.
Data: preliminaryBiome fit
Hot high desert
Heat injury and shallow roots make ordinary cultivars a poor fit.
Confidence: high
Hot/cold high desert
Cooler sites may work
Confidence: medium
Cold plateau
Cold hardiness and early maturity fit short interior seasons.
Confidence: high
Alpine / short season
Promising where soil moisture and late-frost exposure can be managed.
Confidence: medium
Planning profile
| Lifecycle | Perennial |
|---|---|
| Harvested part | fruit |
| Productive winter minimum | -40°F |
| Routine summer maximum | 90°F |
| Annual irrigation | 1.0–1.7 acre-feet/acre |
| Mature yield | 2000–8000 lb/acre |
| Representative density | 1450 plants/acre |
Planning values describe productive plantings, not absolute survival limits. Local evapotranspiration, soil, cultivar, plant age, rainfall, and management can materially change them.
Seasonal mature-plant water
| Season | Daily-equivalent gallons per plant |
|---|---|
| Spring | 2.5–4 |
| Summer | 3–5.5 |
| Fall | 0.5–1.5 |
Daily-equivalent demand is useful for system sizing; actual irrigation may be accumulated into less-frequent, deeper applications.
Potential products
- juice
- syrup
- preserves
- dried fruit
- tea blends
- fermented products
Drought and fire resilience
| Drought tolerance | Low Shallow fibrous roots require dependable irrigation through harvest; this is not a xeric crop. |
|---|---|
| Fire resistance | Unknown No fire-resistance finding is recorded in the current research set. |
Why it belongs
Black currant is adapted to cold winters and short seasons and supports a wide range of processed products. It is not intrinsically drought tolerant: shallow roots make dependable irrigation important through harvest. Its place in the catalog is as an efficient short-season irrigated crop, not a dry-farmed one.
Trial priorities
- Screen cultivars for heat tolerance and reliable high-desert yield.
- Measure irrigation demand before and after harvest.
- Evaluate products that can absorb variable fruit size and appearance.