ISHS Acta Horticulturae 567: IV International Strawberry Symposium
STRAWBERRY VARIETY TRIALS ON BERRY FARMS |
| Author: | V. Matala |
| Keywords: | Fragaria x ananassa Duch., cultivars, farm trials |
| Abstract:
In Finland’s climatic conditions it is exceptionally difficult to find new strawberry varieties which will consistently produce good yields. This is because the short autumn allows little time for flower bud initiation and further development. The cultivar’s ability to withstand cold is also important, since the temperature can drop very low while there is no snow cover. It is our experience that variety trials at research stations can help us to reject many unsuitable varieties and to find new, suitable varieties for testing on berry farms. We have five years of experience in testing varieties on berry farms. The results have made it significantly easier for berry growers to select varieties and have helped plant producers to direct their output according to demand. In trial activities researchers, advisors and berry growers cooperate closely. Berry growers perform the important task of picking and weighing yields, which helps keep the cost of trial activities down. Each trial farm has a control variety plus 2-4 trial varieties, with about 200 plants for each variety. Each trial variety is planted in different parts of the country on an average of 10 farms. The Agricultural Research Centre of Finland concludes agreements with variety breeders on the conditions for trials. The first farm trials where in 1995-1998, from which results were obtained for three crop years. The results showed that out of a total of 15 trial varieties three could be expected to do well in Finnish conditions, with certain reservations: ‘Honeoye’, ‘Korona’ and ‘Polka’. In 1999 new variety trials were established on a total of 30 farms. The trial varieties are ‘Cavendish’, ‘Chambly’, ‘Emily’, ‘Gyda’, ‘Inga’, ‘Kent’, ‘Lina’ and ‘Oka’. | |
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