PROGRESS IN STRAWBERRY BREEDING IN ITALY

The Italian public strawberry breeding program commenced 35 years ago and has released a total of 21 cultivars. Breeding objectives reflect current strawberry industry trends and they are specific for each growing area, but improvement of fruit quality is a common objective in all areas. Good fruit quality includes good taste, a good balance of sweetness and acidity, firmness, large berry size with long conical regular shape, a light red skin colour, uniformity between berries, and good shelf-life. In the last ten years, one major aim of the Italian breeding program has been to extend the production season using both short-day and day-neutral types, especially in relation to the fall culture in northern areas i.e. a double (autumn-spring) cropping system from a single planting. Two advanced selections adapted to the northern areas and 3 for the south are described