In this distribution campaign that has just begun, the strawberry seedlings of Nova Siri Genetics (NSG)varieties, which will be distributed by the licensed nurserymen, mark a +15% compared to last year, reaching approximately 150 million. The distribution of the pot plants in these days, which will bear the first fruits in the last months of this year, will be followed by the distribution of the fresh plant at the beginning of October, for the production of fruits starting from the first weeks of 2025.
These numbers reflect the success that the strawberry cultivars of the Italian research and experimentation company have recorded over the last few years, both among nurseries and producers.
Compared to the last campaign, in fact, both the number of hectares of nurseries dedicated to NSG strawberry varieties and the nurserymen authorized to multiply them have grown, which has reached 15 between Spain and Poland.
Nicola Tufaro, breeder of the genetic improvement company, explains, “One of the characteristics of our varieties that is most appreciated by nurserymen is definitely their rusticity, as it allows the plants to be multiplied in the nursery even in the presence of difficult soils and without the use of products used in the past for soil disinfection. In fact, resistance to major soil pathogens represents an important strength of our varieties, along with their ability to adapt to ongoing climate changes”.
On the production side, as well as from the areas of the Mediterranean basin (southern Italy, Spain, Maghreb, Albania, Greece), the growing interest in the NSG strawberry varieties also continues from other areas of the world with a temperate climate particularly suited to this crop, such as Australia, India, South America and South Africa.
“The cultivars in our breeding program”, says Carmela Suriano, NSG's EMEA director, ”are also appreciated by growers for their adaptability to different soil types and low environmental impact cultivation techniques. In addition, they stand out for scalarity and excellent productivity, as well as for organoleptic characteristics, beauty and shelf life. Within our international expansion project, we also plan the establishment of nurseries outside Europe, to better meet the growing demand of local nurserymen, for example from Egypt and India”.
NSG 203 – Marimbella®, NSG 465 – Rossetta®, The Melissa strawberry e NSG 207 – Gioelita® are the strawberry varieties that make up the offer of the Italian research company. This is a complementary offer in terms of ripening time and fruit characteristics, which allows producers to control the market for up to 8 months a year.
Furthermore, NSG continues with the experimentation of new strawberry selections with its partners worldwide, with the aim of testing their adaptability and verifying their innovative morphological and physiological traits, introduced through natural crosses. In particular, the process of obtaining the EU property breeders’ rights for a strawberry selection very promising for its organoleptic characteristics and shelf life has already begun, as well as for the company's first raspberry variety.
Again this year Nova Siri Genetics is ready to delve into all these novelties and meet new partners during the Fruit Attraction fair in Madrid next October 8-9-10, in Hall 9 at stand 9G06..
