- Title
- Profitable day-neutral strawberry variety and planting date combination for year-round strawberry fruit production in the Southern Cape
- Creator
- Parehwa, Patience
- Subject
- Strawberries -- Fertilizers
- Date Issued
- 2020
- Date
- 2020
- Type
- Thesis
- Type
- Masters
- Type
- MSc
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10948/48599
- Identifier
- vital:40894
- Description
- South Africa’s strawberry production is currently limited to winter and spring production. Strawberry growers have not been able to extend the growing season for year-round strawberry production primarily due to variety- and climatic limitations. Consumers world-wide, however, demand year-round supply of strawberries on their markets. Delayed planting and robust day-neutral varieties may allow growers to extend the marketing season. To investigate the most profitable variety and planting date combination for season extension in the Southern Cape, trials were conducted at Groeneweide Farm, George. Day-neutral strawberry varieties Monterey, San Andreas and Albion were planted at 30-day intervals from April to September for 3 seasons. They were planted in single layer, standard coir grow-bags at a density of 75 000/ha. Analyses of variance (ANOVA) were performed on vegetative growth stages (crown and runner formation), yield (flowering and fruit yield), fruit quality (fruit mass and total soluble solids content) and gross income. The analysis encompassed variety, month and planting month × variety interaction. ‘Monterey’ significantly outperformed ‘San Andreas’ which in turn significantly (p<0.05) outperformed ‘Albion’ for crown number, flower number, yield, fruit size and margin above cost. ‘San Andreas’ produced significantly fewer runners than ‘Monterey’ and ‘Albion’. ‘Albion’ produced significantly higher TSS followed by ‘Monterey’ and ‘San Andreas’. Over all, the three day-neutral varieties had no significant differences in yield within all planting dates. However, August and September planting dates produced significantly more runners, flowers and higher margin above cost, but significantly smaller fruit and lower total soluble solids (TSS). ‘Monterey’ planted in April and May produced the highest margin above cost and brought earliness to the production window. Together with ‘San Andreas’ planted in August, which extended the harvest season and gave similar margin above cost, it is possible to maximise profitability, extend both ends of the harvest season and also minimise hygiene costs associated with weekly runner removal. Since the strawberry price is very responsive, to quantity supplied, an oversupply out of the normal season, may however lead to lower prices affecting gross income.
- Format
- Xi, 163 leaves
- Format
- Publisher
- Nelson Mandela University
- Publisher
- Faculty of Science
- Language
- English
- Rights
- Nelson Mandela University
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| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | Parehwa, P 217070787 Dissertation April 2020.pdf | 3 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |