The Agricultural and Fisheries Research and Training Institute (Ifapa) of Andalusia's Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries, and Sustainable Development published the results of the field trials it carried out in this strawberry campaign in the province of Huelva in which it analyzed the behavior of 12 strawberry varieties in four areas: El Cebollar del Ifapa farm in Moguer, the Adesva experimental farm in Lepe, Las Malvinas in Palos, and the Flor de Doñana company's eco-farm in Almonte.
Researchers Carmen Soria and Jose Antonio Gomez, who were in charge of presenting the results online, highlighted the incidence that the number of dead plants in some varieties throughout the campaign, due to health problems with which they arrived at the farms, had on the results of the assessment. As a result, for example, some varieties -such as Fortuna from EmcoCal and Savana from Planasa- lagged behind in productivity parameters throughout the campaign. The Marisol and Rossetta varieties, both from Nova Siri Genetics, were also affected by this issue.
The most productive varieties in the campaign were Planasa's Plared 13 variety (1,200 kilos/plant) and FNM's Rociera variety (1,000 kilos/plant). The most productive extra-early varieties (in February) were Freshforward's Calinda variety, EmcoCal's Fortuna variety, FNM's Rociera variety, and Planasa's Plared 13 variety.
The flavor of EmcoCal's Fortuna variety stands out over the other varieties due to its excellent combination of Brix degrees and acidity level.
Two of the strawberry trials were carried out as a conventional crop, one with soil disinfection via biosolarization and the other with chemicals. One of the trials was carried out in soilless cultivation with a coconut fiber substrate. The Flor de Doñana company collaborated on another organic cultivation test. In this last trial in Almonte, Freshforward's Calinda strawberry variety surpassed the other 11 varieties in all the parameters being studied. EmcoCal's Fortuna and Planasa's Plared 13 variety also had a great production efficiency. Source: agrodiariohuelva.es
