Planitalia, the Italian arm of Spanish plant research company Planasa, has confirmed plans to roll out production of a new strawberry variety called Sabrina which, it hopes, will allow producers to supply fruit earlier in the year.
'This is a variety which should complement Candonga, because it's a fairly early and productive variety that adapts well to different soil types,' explained Carmela Suriano, general director of Planitalia, in an interview with Corriere Ortofrutticolo.
'We intend to grow the Sabrina variety in areas where Candonga is less present, such as in Calabria or Casertano and also in north Italy,' she added.
The first plantings are scheduled to take place this coming October, meaning the first volumes should be available at the start of next season.
Commercial trials of Sabrina have been taking place in a number of countries over the past few months as Planasa seeks to replace production of older crops which no longer satisfy the quality demands of European customers.
Last autumn, the group began commercial trials on 100,000 plants in Mexico, Spain (Huelva), Italy, Mexico (Michoacán) and the US (California).
For the 2010/11 season, Planasa expects to have around 5m plants (approximately 100ha) in production, with enough product available in 2011/12 to meet market demand.
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