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COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • NOVEMBER 2018


Strawberry growers rank fruit quality highest Pacific Northwest survey identifies fresh market strawberry traits


by RONDA PAYNE ABBOTSFORD – Pacific


Northwest strawberry growers rank fruit quality highest when it comes to traits needed in fresh market berries. Six growers from BC


participated in the survey of 32 producers conducted by a team led by Karina Gallardo, an associate professor and extension specialist with the School of Economic Sciences at Washington State University’s Puyallup Research and Extension Center. The research took place from late 2017 to early 2018. “We asked what are the


growers’ needs? How should the new variety of the fresh market be? What are the challenges they anticipate happening in the fresh market?” explains Gallardo.


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The study stemmed from


an increasing number of growers shifting from processing to fresh-market varieties and the challenges they face competing with the large volume of fresh berries heading north from California. Working with Lisa DeVetter, assistant professor in berry crops at WSU-Mount Vernon, and Wendy Hoashi-Erhardt, a berry breeder at WSU- Puyallup, Gallardo hoped to gather input from enough growers for reasonable representation of grower demand. Potential traits were


clustered in four categories: fruit quality (colour, size, flavour), disease resistance, plant tolerance and other (extended harvest, high yield). Growers identified the most important traits in each cluster. “BC growers’ first


preference was external appearance, meaning free of defects,” Gallardo says. “Second was flavour and third was firmness.” Gallardo says there were subtle differences between locations. Washington and Oregon growers preferred flavour first, then size and colour, for example. Regarding disease


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resistance, no one trait was more important than another for all growers. This likely confirms that each region faces different challenges with pests and disease due to differing climates, soil and crop management. BC growers named an unspecified virus and powdery mildew among the diseases their berries should be able to resist. Insects that topped the BC list were lygus then aphids. In the plant tolerance


category, BC and Oregon growers both chose heat


tolerance as the top trait while Washington growers selected cold-hardiness. Among other plant traits,


BC growers noted consistent fruit quality throughout the season as the top priority. “The findings from this study suggest that the focus on fruit quality is the key to help Pacific Northwest strawberry growers facing the transition from processing to fresh,” says Gallardo. “And the quality improvement should target on consistent quality of skin colour, size and flavour with durability productivity.”


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When growers were asked to rank the importance of each of the four trait categories, fruit quality came out as the highest overall with disease resistance second. “The result was similar


across all three groups,” she says.


Survey participants were


predominantly fresh strawberry growers (79% of all growers surveyed), while 75% had 50 acres or less in strawberries. Nearly 60% of growers have been farming strawberries for more than 20 years.


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