Twelve major industry players have raised nearly £1 million to fund the newly launched East Malling Research (EMR) Strawberry Breeding Club.
The project, which has secured £550,000 from Defra as part of a five-year commitment, will see growers, plant propagators, marketing companies and retailers come together to direct the EMR programme to meet their requirements.
The initiative will address environmental issues including the impact of climate change, pressure to reduce pesticides and the need to reduce the environmental footprint of strawberry production, relating directly to the government policy for Sustainable Food and Farming.
Head breeder David Simpson and his team will continue their world-leading EMR programme to develop a range of new strawberry varieties.
Industry representatives including the Horticulture Development Compnay, KG Growers, CPM retail, The Summerfruit Company and Well-Pict European, as well as Meiosis Ltd and retailers Tesco and Marks & Spencer have come on board and raised £975,000.
The raspberry breeding programme is currently unfunded and a question mark hangs over whether it will continue at EMR.
EMR chief executive Colin Gutteridge said: “The strawberry breeding programme has been going full tilt for 20 years and it will continue to do so.
“We are now looking into supporting cherry breeding, in addition to strawberries, which we will examine in the next three to four months, before it is finalised by the end of the year,” he added.
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