AGRANOMY PRACTICE OF STRAWBERRY

Climate and Soil

• Strawberry can be grown on a wide range of soils but thrives better on well-drained, medium sandy loam soil which is rich in an organic matter as nearly 70-90 per cent of its roots are confined to 15-20 cm topsoil. Heavy, clayey and waterlogged soils are not suitable for its cultivation. It grows well on light acidic soils but can also be grown on soils upto 7.5 pH. A temperature of 15-26oC is considered optimum for its vegetative growth and development.

Recommended Cultivars

• Chandler (2021):
  • It is mid-season cultivar and fruits are available from first week of February to first week of April. Fruits are medium, conical to sometimes long flat in shape with glossy and attractive skin. Flesh colour is deep red. Average fruit weight is 17.2 g, TSS 8.7 %, acidity 0.83 % and TSS/acid ratio 10.48. Average yield is about 260 g/plant.
• Winter Dawn (2021):
  • It is early maturing cultivar and fruits are available from mid January to end of March. Fruits are large, medium conical to wedge shaped with deep red and glossy skin. Flesh color is dark red. Average fruit weight is 20.2 g, TSS 9.1%, acidity 0.82 % and TSS/acid ratio 11.2. Average yield is about 290 g/plant.

Propagation

• Strawberry is propagated through runners. Tissue culture plants should be used as mother plants for runner production. The plants can be multiplied in the hilly areas as its plants do not survive in extreme dry summers under plains of North India. They are also prone to various diseases, high humidity and low sunshine hours during rainy season create problems in its cultivation

Preparation of Soil and Plant Spacing

• Prepare the land thoroughly by deep ploughing followed by harrowing and add well rotten FYM to the soil. Healthy runners either bare rooted or raised in polybags with a medium to the large crown and well-developed root system should be transplanted in evening hours. Plants are transplanted at a spacing of 30 cm × 30 cm on well prepared 15-20 cm raised beds of 80 cm width. The distance of 40 cm between the beds should be maintained and we can accommodate 22,000 plants per acre.

Time of Planting, Mulching and Low Tunneling

• The time of transplanting planting strawberry is mid-October. Strawberry seedlings should be transplanted by keeping plant crown slightly above the ground level for proper establishment in between the dripper lines and for the proper distribution of fertilizers and irrigation water. Cover the beds with silver-black polyethylene mulch of 30 μ thickness to improve fruit yield and quality. It protects the plants and their roots against extreme temperature fluctuation, suppress weeds and helps to conserve soil moisture. Strawberry plants should be covered with low tunnel transparent plastic sheet (50 μ thickness) over the iron frame at center height of 60 cm from end-December to mid-February to minimize winter injury, plant mortality and enhancing productivity. Keep the distance between the successive frames at 2.50 m.

Drip Irrigation and Fertigation

• Strawberry is a shallow-rooted plant and requires light and frequent irrigations to maintain optimum soil moisture for quality fruit production. Fertigation through drip irrigation system tends to distribute the plant nutrients uniformly in the root zone, where the most of active roots are confined and thus enhancing the nutrient use efficiency.
• Adequate water supply is essential throughout the cropping season, particularly during plant growth and fruit development stages. Strawberry is highly susceptible to excessive soil moisture.
• Strawberry should be drip irrigated daily with lateral pipes having dripper discharge of 2.2 liters per hour and drippers are placed at 30 cm apart. Start fertigation after 6 days from the date of transplanting and total 44 Kg N, 32 Kg P2O5 and 40 Kg K2O5 per acre as per given in schedule.
• In general, combinations of polyethylene mulch and fertigation considerably promote plant vegetative growth and enhancement of fruit yield.

Drip irrigation schedule for strawberry in minutes/day

Fertigation schedule for strawberry

Harvesting and Marketing

• Strawberry is a non-climacteric and highly perishable fruit crop. Hence, utmost care should be given for harvesting, handling and marketing. Harvest berries when 50 to 75% pericarp of the berry develops red colour which depend upon the distance to the market. For local markets, pick the fruits at the pink or three-fourth coloured stage. Pick the fruits along with the caps or calyx and the stalk, one to two inches from the calyx. Fruits are usually harvested in morning hours in shallow trays and avoid bulky containers to transport the harvest fruit from the fields to pack house. Discard diseased, misshapen, sunburn and also overripe fruits during sorting, grading and packaging. Strawberry fruits harvested at entirely red (ripe) stage should be packed in 200 g punnets and these punnets should be packed in corrugated fiber trays or ventilated cardboard boxes. Strawberries can be stored at 5±10C; 90-95 % RH for 6-9 days and at ambient conditions up to 2 days