The inaugural Redeva Egypt Technical Seminar took place earlier this month in Cairo, as companies in the North African country look to strengthen their strawberry offer.
The event took place in the Marriott Hotel in Cairo and was the first of a planned annual event run by the Redeva Egypt Association to discuss the trial results of advanced selections coming through the Redeva Egypt programme and other technical challenges.
More than 15 representatives of Total Berry’s Egyptian suppliers listened to presentations from Redeva strawberry breeder Irene Geoghegan on trial results of her seedlings. They also heard from research agronomist Dr Lindrea Latham on results of sampling and tasting from Total Berry UK customers.
Tim Morton, Redeva general manager, then reviewed the season to date and touched on some of the future technical challenges faced by the Egyptian industry.
The association members agreed on the three new advanced selections that will move forward into semi-commercial production in 2010-11. These selections represent a significant step forward in production, including bringing fruiting forward two weeks to the beginning of November, as well as improved fruit quality and eating experience.
These advanced selections will join the already strong portfolio of Redeva varieties - Red Merlin, Red Delight and Susana - that supply the UK market during the winter months. Members also agreed on the 20 selections to be taken forward from the semi-advanced selections. Fruit from these promising selections will be available to Total Produce customers to sample in 2010.
In 2009, Redeva moved its seeding programme to Egypt to guarantee that new selections that are suitable for production in various Nile Delta locations are identified at the earliest possible stage.
Morton said: “We believe this new development will enable Total Berry suppliers to have all the tools required to maximise the potential of the new varieties coming through the pipeline of this exciting programme.”
