EVALUATION OF STRAWBERRY CULTIVARS FOR ORGANIC PRODUCTION IN LATVIA

There is increasing interest in organic production in Latvia during the last years. To establish strawberry cultivars more suitable for organic growing in Latvian agro-ecological conditions an evaluation was started at the Pūre Horticultural Research Station in 2003. Ten widely grown strawberry cultivars were included in the preliminary investigation that was conducted on a conventional field, but without using chemical plant protection products and fertilizers. In 2005, 16 cultivars were planted on certified organic field, where only in organic farming permitted plant protection and nutrition products were used. The following traits were evaluated: winter hardiness, yield, quality, fruit size, susceptibility to the most widespread pests and diseases. In the preliminary investigation the best results were showed by the cultivars ‘Induka’, ’Jonsok’, ’Dukat’ and ’Korona’. In the second trial, the highest marketable yield was obtained from the cultivars ‘Polka’, ‘Bounty’, ‘Pandora’ and ‘Senga Sengana’. The cultivar ‘Honeoye’ showed very good fruit quality.