The fragraria Foundation in Huelva, south-western Spain, is looking into growing strawberries year round in the region, as well as enhancing production of raspberries and other soft fruit.
The foundation is looking at hydroponic techniques and trials this year saw plantings in August, which were harvested in October and November - a highly attractive marketing window, given limited supplies on major markets from other sources in Europe. The group is also running trials on raspberries, blueberries and blackberries.
Fragraria has set up trials at a new farm in Almonte with eight hectares under production compared to the existing 2.5ha.
The move also represents some €500,000 of investment.
There are eight organisations behind Fragraria, including two financial institutions, Dap - the business arm of the Andalusia regional government -research body Irapa, the local authorities of Huelva and Almonte and the private sector through Freshuelva and seed specialist Eurosemillas.
A further four research priorities have been identified by Fragraria including shelf-life, growing mediums, projects looking at other berries and testing University of California varieties.
