Farmer Brendon Hoyle is one of several growers working with scientists to make the produce last longer.
"At the end of the day, the shelf life is dependent on how cold and how well kept those strawberries are," Mr Hoyle said. The research includes monitoring harvesting, packing, and transport, which is tracked on an app.
"We're questioning what we're doing, how quickly we're moving fruit from the field to the cold rooms, just to be able to monitor and bring that temperature down, and making sure that it leaves on transport at the right temperature are probably the biggest takeaways for us," Mr. Hoyle said.
Principal plant breeder Jodi Neal's job is to breed strawberry varieties, which cost farmers less to pick and pack while looking, tasting, and lasting long enough for the consumer to eat them. Dr Neal said genetics played a role in fruit's shelf life. "Most consumers don't even realize that there are different varieties of strawberries so we try to work directly with farmers," she said.
Read the full article here.