Improving pollination of early strawberry crops

Abstract

Our work on strawberry pollination started in 1996 because the top cultivar grown in France is 'Gariguette' and growers get good prices with this cultivar very early in the season (March-April) as the quality of the product is well recognized. Crop management aimed at earliness (early covering, covering with a layer of non-woven fabric or under greenhouse polyethylene film, heating, etc.) induces the plant to flower under conditions unfavorable for pollination such as short days with low irradiation levels and temperatures around 8-10°C which hinder pollen formation. Such conditions often lead later on to problems in strawberry development and shape (large areas with unfertilized ovules, furrows, etc.). This is especially true for primary flowers, which should provide the largest strawberries. A preliminary study was first conducted to assess whether pollination was, indeed, a limiting factor for strawberry production in early crops and whether female reproductive structures also have played a role as well. When this work was completed and pollination was demonstrated as the main limiting factor for strawberry development from the first batch of flowers, the authors studied the different pollen vectors and quantified their action to determine their incidence in terms of production under "limiting" early cropping conditions. © 2005 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.