Success in the implementation of the Victory variety thanks to its rusticity

Rusticity is already a determining factor for the strawberry sector, marking the future and viability of a crop that faces higher temperatures every year during the planting phase

The high temperatures recorded throughout the Mediterranean Arc during the last weeks of September and the first weeks of October have conditioned the strawberry planting phase. This reality highlights the need to have rustic varieties that, despite less accumulation of cold hours in the nursery and high temperatures in the planting phase, have good and rapid rooting.

In this sense, the future of the strawberry sector involves having rustic materials, a characteristic that fully defines the varietal program of Plant Sciences & Berry Genetics, managed in southern Europe and North Africa by EL PINAR; varieties that allow us to solve those moments of stress, without loss in the quality or productivity of the plant.

But in this exercise, not only has the rusticity of the EL PINAR varieties been decisive. So has the implementation of a series of nursery practices and a campaign approach highly adapted to each production area. “We have carried out very controlled management in the nursery to achieve optimal maturation despite the high temperatures. Furthermore, the start-up and delivery of the plant has been carried out based on the climatic conditions of each production area, when the temperatures were appropriate for rooting,” details Jorge Muñoz, commercial manager of EL PINAR.

Thanks to the expansion and diversification of the nursery areas, distributed in the provinces of Segovia, Ávila and Romania, and the nine plant production centers, EL PINAR has increased the volume of plant sold by 10%, supplying an average of 9 million plants daily to its clients in Spain, Morocco, Greece and Italy, without interruptions in supply at any time.

In order to address this increase in production and especially offer greater advice to customers, EL PINAR has expanded its technical-commercial department during this campaign. “We want to help the farmer adapt to a new productive reality: new climate, new planting periods, plant typologies and varieties,” says the commercial manager of EL PINAR.

 Leading varieties in rusticity and quality

Varieties such as Victory and Inspire continue their development throughout the Mediterranean Arc thanks to the aforementioned rusticity and the quality of their fruits. In the case of Victory, farmers continue to invest equally in the markets of Huelva and Morocco, where high temperatures have lengthened the planting period, registering very high implementation success. It has had the same behavior in Italy and Greece, the latter market where it is the leader in its segment due to that same rusticity.

For its part, Inspire continues to achieve success, confirming its growth and leading the premium market in Italy on the open market, as in Spain and Morocco, under club management.

And without losing sight of this rusticity and a greater adaptation to the high temperatures of the production area, EL PINAR is currently carrying out trials with new varieties, to offer this market new plant typologies and production cycles.

The first strawberries of the EL PINAR varieties will begin to reach the markets at the end of November / beginning of December, on dates similar to those of previous years, despite the delay in planting. The rusticity and rapid rooting make this precocity possible.