STRAWBERRY BREEDING IN THE NETHERLANDS

E.J. Meulenbroek, C.P.J van de Lindeloof, W.E. van de Weg
Strawberry breeding work executed at CPRO-DLO can be divided in breeding research and disease resistance research. The objective of the strawberry breeding program is mainly to breed varieties for growing outdoors. The programs for breeding everbearing varieties and early forcing in the greenhouse are rather small. Due to changes in the culture it is necessary to evaluate the programs regularly. As the culture of early forcing in greenhouse has declined over the past ten years, it was decided to cease making new crosses for this purpose. After selecting five until seven years the very best selections will be sent to the trial station for fruit crops in Wilhelminadorp, for testing in national trials in The Netherlands. These trials are planted in the main strawberry area: Breda, Horst, Geldermalsen and Zwaagdijk. Here they will be compared with the standard varieties. General characters which all varieties must have are: (1) high yielding capacity, (2) fruits with good appearance, (3) disease resistance, and (4) easy and quick to pick. Disease resistance research is focused on Phytophthora fragariae and Phytophthora cactorum. Fundamental research has given insight in the genetics of resistance to P. fragariae. This knowledge will be incorporated in our breeding program to come to a sophisticated breeding strategy and an efficient use of resistance genes. The research work on P. cactorum is concentrated on the development of a quick and reliable screening method so that it can be incorporated in the breeding program in an early stage.
Meulenbroek, E.J., van de Lindeloof, C.P.J and van de Weg, W.E. (1993). STRAWBERRY BREEDING IN THE NETHERLANDS. Acta Hortic. 348, 277-277
DOI: 10.17660/ActaHortic.1993.348.52
https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1993.348.52

Acta Horticulturae