The record summer temperatures in 2022 have put soft fruit growers under strain – but the breeders behind one variety of strawberry say that their product is standing up to the test.
Despite the soaring heat, Malling Fruits have reported initial data suggesting that their Malling Ace variety has performed with high yields and consistent fruit size during June and July.
Exception to strawberry struggles?
The variety was originally bred for fruit quality throughout the growing season, ease of picking and resistance to Phytophthora cactorum, the fungus-like pathogen behind a disease known as crown rot, but appears to have the added trait of temperature resilience.
“Strawberries crops clearly suffered in this summer’s extreme heat, with varieties dropping in fruit size and some even shutting down and going into thermo-dormancy,” explained Alin Borleanu, Technical Officer-Varieties Development at the National Institute of Agricultural Botany (NIAB), which Malling Fruits falls under.
“Malling Ace appears to be an exception; showing resilience during the heatwave, maintaining its fruit size and continuously expressing new flower trusses. A strong versatile variety, overall this year it has performed well in a range of production systems.”
Traits in big demand
The spin-off company uses traditional breeding approaches as well as genomics-assisted breeding in production of strawberries with desirable traits for the industry.
Malling Ace came about in 2015 through a traditional selection approach, which begins with cross-pollination. It was “fast-tracked” towards commercialisation by researchers after stand-out performance in early trials in 2017 and commercial trials two years later – with 90% of producers working with NIAB quickly applying for licenses to grow the variety.
