STRAWBERRY GENOTYPES SELECTION FOR HIGH PRODUCTIVITY AND FRUIT SIZE

In Irapuato, Guanajuato, México yields of strawberry cultivars are above 40 t.ha^-1 but the weight of fruits of 14 g, about 46% of that obtained in California, U.S., where most of the materials were generated. The weight affects the competitiveness in the fresh fruit exportation market. INIFAP and Cinvestav are developing cultivars better adapted to subtropical ecosystems (1700 masl), with high productivity, suitable agronomic characteristics and superior quality. Sixteen strawberry genotypes, selected for their high yield potential and bigger fruit weight were evaluated from 2004 to 2007, in comparison with five cultivars from California and one from Florida, U.S. Results showed that INIFAP’s genotypes were superior in some of the parameters evaluated, except for the 2004-2005 cycle. For the 2005-2006 cycle, the clone 02.11 produced 40.9 t.ha^-1, superior to ‘Camarosa’ and ‘Festival’, and clones 99.514, 02.48 and ‘Cometa’ produced fruit with a mean fresh weight at least 14 g, higher than both cultivars. For the 2006-2007 cycle, the yield of clone 02.208 was 24.2 t.ha^-1, higher than ‘Camarosa’ and ‘Camino Real’ and similar to ‘Festival’. The clone 01.70 had a mean fresh weight of 11.3 g, higher than ‘Camarosa’ and the same of ‘Festival’ and ‘Camino Real’. For 2004-2005 cycle, ‘Camarosa’, ‘Capitola’, ‘Oso Grande’ and ‘Ventana’ had yields of 40 t.ha^-1, statistically superior to INIFAP clones. Data presented confirm the genetic improvement for both parameters, where the strategy of crossing progenitors carrying such attributes, will in the mean term, allow to get more productive cultivars, with heavier fruits.