The Fortuna and Rociera strawberry varieties have once again been the most planted varieties in the 2021/2022 campaign in Huelva, accounting for 47.6% of the total planted, specifically for 31.1% and 16.5%, respectively. However, according to the annual study prepared by the Ifapa Strawberry Group, their dominance has been declining in recent years.
"In the 2018-2019 campaign, the sum of the two most important varieties accounted for 75.4% of all the plants in production; in the 2019-2020 campaign, they accounted for 61.8%; in the 2020-2021 campaign for 56.7%, and in the current campaign they account for less than 50% of the total."
The Florida Fortuna variety from the University of Florida continues to be the most cultivated variety for the eighth consecutive campaign but has decreased by 4.5% when compared to the last campaign, and by 5.1% compared to the 2019- 2020 campaign.
The Rociera variety of Strawberries New Materials SA has also decreased, from 25.6% of the total in the 2019-2020 campaign to 20.9% in the previous campaign, to 16.5% in the current campaign.
According to a slightly more detailed analysis, "4 of the 11 varieties used in the 2019-2020 campaign had a 1 to 1.5% share of the total; in the 2020-2021 campaign 9 of 16 varieties had that same share, and in the current 2021-2022 campaign 6 of 17 varieties have that share."
"In the last two campaigns, 5 varieties had a 1.5 to 10% share, and in this campaign, that number increased to 9. This change observed in recent years shows increasing use of varieties with low representativeness, as producers search for new candidates to renew the most used varieties; which, as stated above, are losing representativeness."
The report also confirms that there's been a decrease in the use of other varieties, including Primoris and Rabida, and an increase in the use of Victory, Calinda, Palmerita, and Leticia varieties. There has also been an increase in Marimbella and Limavalnera.
Source: agrodiariohuelva.es
