varieties

Five New Strawberry Varieties Available to Growers

DanFruits & Vegetables

varieties
UC Davis Royal Royce strawberry variety is one of the five new strawberry varieties from the Strawberry Breeding Program at the University of California, Davis that will help farmers manage diseases, control cost and produce plenty of large, robust berries using less water, fertilizer and pesticides. These are the strawberries in Salinas on Monday, July 1, 2019.
Courtesy: UC Davis

Strawberry producers will have some new varieties to help increase yields and fruit quality this fall. UC Davis’s Public Strawberry Breeding Program announced the release of five new strawberry varieties after several year’s of testing. Three of the new types, Moxie, Royal Royce, and Valiant are suited for warmer temperatures during the summer months. The other two, Victor and Warrior, are better suited for southern coastal conditions. 

strawberry
A section where the UC Royal Royce strawberries are grown on Monday, July 1, 2019 in Salinas, Calif. Five new strawberry varieties from the Strawberry Breeding Program at the University of California, Davis will help farmers manage diseases, control cost and produce plenty of large, robust berries using less water, fertilizer and pesticides.
Courtesy: UC Davis

Director of the breeding program, Steve Knapp, said in a release, “These new varieties are intrinsically different from the ones they replace. After more than three years of field tests, we see higher yields, greater disease resistance, and better quality after harvest.”

The release also noted that Victor and Valiant perform well in organic systems. Moxie and Royal Royce are showing yield increases of as much as 29 percent over previous UC varieties.

strawberry
Five new strawberry varieties from the Strawberry Breeding Program at the University of California, Davis will help farmers manage diseases, control cost and produce plenty of large, robust berries using less water, fertilizer and pesticides. These are the strawberries in Salinas and Watsonville on Monday, July 1, 2019.
Courtesy: UC Davis

Moxie and Royal Royce also could help a producer reduce labor costs. Strawberry plants produce what are called ‘runners’. They are off-shoots that can form new plants. UC Davis’s press release said some growers spend around $5,000 an acre for labor to prune these appendages. The breeding program stated the new Moxie and Royal Royce varieties don’t produce as many ‘runners’ as previous varieties.

Producers can see how these new varieties performed before purchasing them this fall. All of the trial data is on the California Strawberry Commission’s website.

Five New Strawberry Varieties Available to Growers
  • UC Davis Warrior strawberry variety is one of the five new strawberry varieties from the Strawberry Breeding Program at the University of California, Davis that will help farmers manage diseases, control cost and produce plenty of large, robust berries using less water, fertilizer and pesticides. These are the strawberries in Watsonville on Monday, July 1, 2019.
    Courtesy: UC Davis
  • UC Davis Victor strawberry variety is one of the five new strawberry varieties from the Strawberry Breeding Program at the University of California, Davis that will help farmers manage diseases, control cost and produce plenty of large, robust berries using less water, fertilizer and pesticides. These are the strawberries in Watsonville on Monday, July 1, 2019.
    Courtesy: UC Davis
  • UC Davis Valiant strawberry variety is one of the five new strawberry varieties from the Strawberry Breeding Program at the University of California, Davis that will help farmers manage diseases, control cost and produce plenty of large, robust berries using less water, fertilizer and pesticides. These are the strawberries in Salinas on Monday, July 1, 2019.
    Courtesy: UC Davis
  • UC Davis Royal Royce strawberry variety is one of the five new strawberry varieties from the Strawberry Breeding Program at the University of California, Davis that will help farmers manage diseases, control cost and produce plenty of large, robust berries using less water, fertilizer and pesticides. These are the strawberries in Salinas on Monday, July 1, 2019.
    Courtesy: UC Davis
  • UC Davis Moxie strawberry variety is one of the five new strawberry varieties from the Strawberry Breeding Program at the University of California, Davis that will help farmers manage diseases, control cost and produce plenty of large, robust berries using less water, fertilizer and pesticides. These are the strawberries in Salinas on Monday, July 1, 2019.
    Courtesy: UC Davis
  • Workers harvest strawberries near an area where five new strawberry varieties are grown in Moss Landing from the Strawberry Breeding Program at the University of California, Davis will help farmers manage diseases, control cost and produce plenty of large, robust berries using less water, fertilizer and pesticides.
    Courtesy: UC Davis
About the Author

Taylor Hillman