New varieties of strawberries

As in most crops, whether fruit, horticultural or ornamental, the search for new varieties is constant. In this case we focus on the new varieties of strawberries.

With the aim of searching for new strawberry varieties, the farmer seeks to optimize his resources and make his production profitable, so that aspects such as the productivity of a certain variety, its flavour, shape, earliness, resistance to possible diseases during cultivation, etc. These are factors that are taken into account.

On the part of nurseries specialized in strawberry varieties, they are well aware of these needs in terms of improvements and maintain more or less ambitious improvement programs within a certain varietal set.

But they also keep in mind other aspects such as color and shape, in addition to the organoleptic, which allow the consumer to be pleasantly surprised, which is why they also work very closely with large-scale distribution, where these red fruits will finally be exhibited.

We must make a distinction between varieties for professional cultivation with respect to varieties of strawberries for the urban garden. In this case, the number of varieties is smaller and it is sought that, with the least care possible, the cultivation of strawberries can be achieved successfully.

Short-day and day-neutral strawberry varieties

In addition to what has been said, in this case it is also taken into account that there are short-day and day-neutral strawberry varieties, as well as those that best respond to winter, spring and summer production in warm climates, for temperate climates, or for production in colder climates, such as central and northern Europe.

To give examples of these strawberry varieties, we expose those marketed by the firm El Pinar. It is a family business dedicated, for more than 40 years, to the production of plants and fruits in the red fruit sector, with production fields in Spain, Portugal and Romania.

El Pinar has a distribution network of plants to farmers worldwide and a supply of fruit to customers throughout Europe. In the case of strawberries, they have a wide varietal range, short day, neutral and June bearer (oriented to production in June for Central Europe), the result of different variety breeding programs, among which we can highlight those of Plant Sciences Inc. and Berry Genetics Inc., of which EL PINAR has been a licensee for more than 20 years.

Short day strawberry varieties

The short-day strawberry varieties from El Pinar, oriented for winter, spring and summer production in warm climates, are:

Primavera® ‘BG-6.3016’
Victory
splendor
B.G. 11.3205
Renewal
Honor
yasmine
inspire

Day Neutral Strawberry Varieties

The day-neutral strawberry varieties from El Pinar, mainly oriented for spring, summer and autumn production in temperate climates, are:

Prize
charlotte
Arabella
Triumph
Honeoye

Strawberry varieties June bearer

The strawberry varieties, called June bearer by this company and which are intended for production in central and northern Europe, are:

gariguette
Polka
Lumotar
bounty
Jonsok
Senga Sengana
Corona

New strawberry varieties for the Mediterranean arch

We understand new strawberry varieties for the Mediterranean arc to be those that have proven their worth in hot climate crops, such as those developed in countries such as Spain, Morocco, Greece, Malta and Italy.

In this case, and following the example of the El Pinar firm, it presents its Primavera, Victory and Inspire varieties at the 7th Red Fruit Congress. Varieties that, after this campaign, have confirmed to be a safe bet for the strawberry producer of the Mediterranean Basin.

In this context, both the Primavera and Victory strawberry varieties have demonstrated their excellent hardiness during planting, with no quality issues despite the abnormal temperatures during the month of October. In the case of the Primavera variety in Spain, the first harvests began in mid-December, while the Victory variety did so in the first fortnight of January.

As a semi-early variety, Victory has shown its linear productivity, quality and shelf life, the latter aspect of which has guaranteed that harvests will last until June. Another advantage that farmers have been able to confirm is that Victory ‘s firmness allows them to better manage their farm when labor is scarce and they are forced to delay their harvest.

In the case of Morocco, the Victory variety is presented as an ideal variety that allows them to differentiate themselves in export markets with great success thanks to the shelf life. In turn, the local consumption of strawberries, as well as the frozen industry, have great weight, where Victory is the preferred variety for both activities and where the producer obtains the highest profitability.