Florida’s strawberry harvest is currently underway. Although the growers are facing challenges due to climate change, there are researchers trying to help them adapt. Vance Whitaker, associate professor of plant breeding at the University of Florida IFAS extension service in Wimauma, says that luckily, when it comes to temperature changes, strawberries are resilient.
Whitaker says the real climate threat to strawberries is more rain. A wetter growing season means the crop will be more vulnerable to fungal diseases. So, he’s working to create strawberries that will thrive in a wetter climate.
Whitaker: “I think that we're going to be able to adjust over time as things change. And I've seen some of that over the last decade that has some pretty warm winters recently. And we can see that some of our most recent varieties seem to be better adapted to heat than some of the ones that were used 10 years ago.”
Source: wlrn.org
