Organic
and alternative farms everywhere seek plant varieties that are resistant
to pests. These are difficult to find and even harder to develop in
a breeding program. Pacific Ag has an extensive program for strawberry
breeding that seeks to develop cultivars that are resistant to soil
borne diseases and thus avoid the requirement for soil fumigation. In
addition, our breeding seeks to create a vigorous stand of plant material
that is also resistant to many foliar pests such as spider mites and
powdery mildew. Both day-neutral and short-day cultivars are selected
from thousands of seedling crosses every year in an effort to create
new plant varieties for alternative and organic growers seeking to produce
quality fruit in low input systems worldwide.