Features Production Research
New European strawberry, raspberry varieties

Three new strawberry varieties and
a raspberry variety from the breeding program at Britain’s East Malling
Research (EMR) have been named.

Sally Bright, the wife of East Malling Research strawberry breeder Dr. David Simpson, holds a bowl of strawber-ries, which were named after her.

The strawberry variety Amelia, named after Amelia Regan of Hugh Lowe Farm Ltd. in the United Kingdom, is a late-season variety that produces attractive, mid-red-coloured berries with a good shelf life.

Three new strawberry varieties and a raspberry variety from the breeding program at Britain’s East Malling Research (EMR) have been named.

Amelia, Lucy and Sallybright are all June-bearing strawberry varieties, while Malling Juno is a summer fruiting raspberry.

Amelia (formerly EM1103) is a late-season variety, which crops 12 to 15 days later than Elsanta. Amelia produces attractive, mid-red-coloured, regular shaped berries that have good firmness and have an excellent shelf life. The late cropping season, improved shelf life and berry colour mean that Amelia is well placed as an alternative to the variety Florence.

Lucy (formerly EM931) is a mid-season variety, which produces excellent yields of large berries, which are very firm and have an attractive mid-red colour. Lucy is a grower-friendly variety that has performed well in trials conducted on pick-your-own farms and less intensive growing systems. With its good tolerance to rain damage, Lucy is well suited for traditional field production without the use of polythene tunnels.

Sallybright (formerly EM1296) crops slightly earlier than Elsanta and produces very regular shaped berries, which have an excellent flavour. The berries are juicy and have an attractive, glossy, red to deep red colour. Sallybright will be particularly interesting for PYO and direct market growers, but is not considered to be suitable for marketing through the multiple retailers.

Malling Juno (formerly EM6544/80) starts to crop at a similar date to Glen Moy, but Juno’s season is more condensed and the 50-per-cent pick date can be two weeks before that of Glen Ample. The fruit quality of Malling Juno is superior to Glen Moy: the berries have an attractive mid-red colour, and are brighter and firmer than Moy and have a good flavour.