Strawberry Breeding in Canada

Abstract

For more than 20 years, strawberry production in Canada has relied almost entirely on cultivars developed by publicly supported breeding programs sponsored either by Agriculture Canada (federal government) or by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food (provincial government) (Dale, 1989; Daubeny, 1979; Galletta, 1979; Lawrence, 1989; Ourecky, 1979). Exceptions are a few minor cultivars developed by publicly supported programs in the United States. Starting on the east coast, the Agriculture Canada program, located at the Kentville Research Station in Nova Scotia, has released eight cultivars since 1965. Several of the earlier releases are of major importance in production regions of eastern and central Canada and in the northeastern and midwestern United States. ‘Bounty’, released in 1972, was the first cultivar from the program to be widely planted. It was noted for its good fruit quality and late ripening season (Craig and Aalders, 1972). ‘Micmac’, released in 1976, has not been grown as extensively as ‘Bounty’ but has been important in the Maritime provinces. It has been a particularly valuable parent and is in the ancestry of three of the five more recently released Kentville cultivars (Jamieson and Nickerson, 1989). ‘Kent’, released in 1981, is currently the predominant cultivar in much of eastern and central Canada and is noted for its high yield (Craig et al., 1982). Four more recent releases, ‘Glooscap’, ‘Blomidon’, ‘Annapolis’, and ‘Cornwallis’, have better fruit firmness than the earlier releases. ‘Glooscap’ and ‘Blomidon’ are being widely planted (Dale, 1989; Luby, 1989). Similar to ‘Kent’, ‘Glooscap’ is a high yielder, but has the advantage of being more winter hardy. ‘Blomidon’ has exceptionally good fruit quality and eye appeal and it ships well (Jamieson and Nickerson, 1989). ‘Annapolis’ and ‘Cornwallis’ are resistant to red stele, caused by Phytophthora fragariae Hickman, a serious problem in parts of the Maritime provinces. Both are early ripening, which is an asset because most other cultivars from the program are midto late season. Compared to most North American programs, the Kentville prograin has made greater use of European cultivars as parents (Jamieson and Nickerson, 1989). The use of such cultivars, which are relatively unrelated to many North American cultivars, is one of the three strategies suggested by Sjulin and Dale (1987) to increase genetic diversity. This use also might explain why ‘Bounty’ is one of the few North American cultivars, not withstanding those from California, that has had some acceptance in European production regions. It is now recommended in Norway and has attracted interest in the United Kingdom because of good fruit qualities (A.R. Jamieson, personal communication). Another of the cultivars, Kent, is showing promise in Sweden (Hancock and Scott, 1988). The Ontario program, at the Horticultural Research Institute of Ontario (HRIO) located first at Vineland and, since 1983, at Simcoe, released four cultivars before 1950, two in 1967, three in 1980, and three since 1985 (A. Dale, personal communication). None released before 1950 had a major impact, but one, ‘Valentine’, has been an exceptionally useful parent in several breeding programs. In crosses with ‘Sparkle’, ‘Valentine’ resulted in two cultivars, Cavalier and Redcoat, from the now terminated Agriculture Canada program at the Ottawa Research Station, and ‘Veestar’ and ‘Vibrant’, the 1967 releases from the HRIO program. ‘Valentine’ also has been used extensively as a source of early ripening and low susceptibility to fruit rot (Botrytis cinerea Pers. ex. Fr.) by the Division of Fruit Breeding, Swedish Univ. of Agricultural Sciences, Balsgaard (Koch, 1963). The importance of ‘Valentine’ can be appreciated by the fact that ‘Redcoat’ and ‘Veestar’ were essentially