Scientists seek longer strawberry season
MSU researchers are trying to fill fields and grocery stores with strawberries - even when the red fruit is out of season. Researchers are investigating the possibility of cross-breeding wild strawberries with conventional short-day breeds to produce a new variety of strawberry that can produce fruit throughout the growing season. Instead of the usual short growing season consisting solely of the beginning of summer, these strawberries would produce fruit from spring through fall. The primary trait researchers are hoping to adapt into the strawberries is a resistance to a particular fungus that causes a condition called black root rot.