Because Of What In The United States For Many Years There Was A Ban On The Cultivation Of Black Currants

2024 Author: Bailey Albertson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 12:53

Why in the USA it was forbidden to grow black currants for many years

Currant bushes are almost an integral part of the country landscape in Russia. This berry is healthy and often used in baked goods. However, in the United States, black currants are prohibited from growing for several reasons.

Historical fact

Surprisingly, the US population did not have access to black currants throughout the 20th century. And the thing is that the American authorities officially introduced a ban on the cultivation of this plant. The restriction was lifted 17 years ago, in 2003. However, not all states in the country supported the initiative.

In such conditions, entire generations of Americans did not know what the blackcurrant bush is and how its fruits grow. It should be noted that the ban on the cultivation of this berry was introduced for a reason.

Why was it forbidden to grow black currants

In the pine forests of the United States at the beginning of the last century, an outbreak of a fungal disease was recorded. In large areas, valuable species of pines - white Weymouth - perished. They dried out at the root. As a result, logging enterprises suffered significant losses.

Foresters, in collaboration with scientists, began to look for the cause of the tree disease. It turned out that the reason lies in a special kind of fungus, which forms on plants from the genus Ribes (Gooseberries), after which it spreads to conifers.

Black currants and related plants were immediately taken out of the law. Both wild and cultivated species have been hit. A real battle has begun for the preservation of coniferous forests. Huge groups of specially trained people combed them, destroying unwanted bushes.

It is interesting that wild-growing representatives of the genus Kryzhovnikovs are widespread not only in the North American continent, but also in Eurasia. Thus, black currant from Siberia also carries a dangerous fungus, but local types of conifers have developed immunity to this disease.

The bushes did not give up. Neither felling, nor fires in the areas where the fungus was spreading could destroy them. The next year, in the same places, blackcurrant shoots again broke through.

During the period of the ban, US residents were able to find a replacement - golden currant. This type of berry also grows as a shrub and produces fruits similar in taste and appearance. At the same time, the plant directly does not tolerate fungal diseases and, accordingly, does not pose a danger to pines.

Over time, the opinion of society about a delicious black berry has undergone changes, and in 2003, through the efforts of one of those who were not indifferent, it was possible to almost completely lift the ban on currants. The last bastions that did not succumb to the arguments of the defenders of the bush and did not cancel its persecution were four conservative states - Maine, Massachusetts, Virginia and New Hampshire.