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ence
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uitg
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owe
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.co.uk
ThE FrUITGrOWEr • FEbrUAry2017
T
h
eNewyea
r
got off to a positive sta
r
t fo
r
soft f
r
uit
g
r
owe
r
s f
r
om ac
r
oss Eu
r
opew
h
en some 650delegates
of 41 nationalities gat
h
e
r
ed at t
h
e 1931Cong
r
escent
r
um
b
r
a
b
ant
h
allen in ‘s-he
r
togen
b
osc
h
, T
h
eNet
h
e
r
lands, fo
r
t
h
e
sevent
h
Inte
r
national Soft F
r
uit Confe
r
ence, o
r
ganised
by
bVb
andDelp
h
i.
In addition to t
h
e p
r
og
r
amme of speake
r
s, t
h
e ex
h
i
b
ition a
r
ea
h
ad stands f
r
om87 companies and o
r
ganisations, p
r
oviding a
valua
b
le sou
r
ce of info
r
mation fo
r
g
r
owe
r
s. As usual, t
h
e
r
ewas
a good
r
ep
r
esentation f
r
omp
r
opagato
r
s of soft f
r
uit plants, wit
h
info
r
mation on t
h
e inc
r
easing
r
ange of va
r
ieties availa
b
le to
g
r
owe
r
s to suit diffe
r
entma
r
kets and g
r
owing s
y
stems.
Companies offe
r
ing g
r
owing s
y
stems, and t
h
e associated
mec
h
anisation in p
r
otectedp
r
oduction, gave g
r
owe
r
s t
h
e
oppo
r
tunit
y
to compa
r
e some of t
h
e options t
h
at a
r
e now
availa
b
le.
NorthAmerica
Getting t
h
eConfe
r
ence off to an excellent sta
r
t wasKevin
Sc
h
oole
y
f
r
omCanadaw
h
o is ExecutiveDi
r
ecto
r
of t
h
eNo
r
t
h
Ame
r
icanSt
r
aw
b
e
rry
G
r
owe
r
s Association, w
h
o explained t
h
e
t
r
ends in t
h
eNo
r
t
h
Ame
r
icanma
r
ket. he said t
h
at st
r
aw
b
e
rr
ies
we
r
e no longe
r
pe
r
ceived as a seasonal p
r
oduct,
b
ut
b
e
rry
consumption
h
ad
b
ecome pa
r
t of a
h
ealt
hy
lifest
y
le. Asmo
r
e
‘off-season’ f
r
uit
h
ad
b
een p
r
oduced,
demand
h
ad g
r
own
and innovative g
r
owe
r
s
and
r
esea
r
c
h
e
r
s
h
ad
developed new
tec
h
nologies tomeet
t
h
is demand. he also
said t
h
at t
h
e
r
e is a lot of
goodqualit
y
land
availa
b
le fo
r
p
r
oduction
in no
r
t
h
Ame
r
ica.
Kevin emp
h
asised
t
h
e dominant place t
h
at
Califo
r
nian st
r
aw
b
e
rry
p
r
oduction
h
olds in t
h
e
no
r
t
h
Ame
r
icanma
r
ket.Wit
h
12,600
h
a anticipated fo
r
2017,
p
r
oducing 84 tonnes/
h
a and ama
r
ket value of $2.6
b
illion, t
h
e
state p
r
oduces 79%of USp
r
oduction. Califo
r
nia does
h
ave
c
h
allenges, especiall
y
wit
h
d
r
oug
h
t and t
h
e cost of wate
r
,
inc
r
easing la
b
ou
r
costs and soil diseases, nematodes andweed
cont
r
ol, andwit
h
fumigation unde
r
p
r
essu
r
e. Second to
Califo
r
nia is Flo
r
idawit
h
4400
h
a of st
r
aw
b
e
rry
p
r
oduction,
mainl
y
inwinte
r
and aiming to fill t
h
e gaps inCalifo
r
nian
p
r
oduction. T
h
isma
r
ket can
come unde
r
p
r
essu
r
e f
r
om
Mexican impo
r
ts in some
seasons. G
r
owe
r
s
h
ave
p
r
o
b
lemswit
h
f
r
ost, and
disease p
r
essu
r
e stemming
f
r
om t
h
e
h
umid climate and t
h
e
use of ove
rh
ead i
rr
igation fo
r
f
r
ost p
r
otection.
In ot
h
e
r
states andp
r
ovinces
p
r
oduction is conside
r
a
b
l
y
lowe
r
and focuses on
suppl
y
ing local and specialist
ma
r
kets, seekinggaps in t
h
e
suppl
y
f
r
om t
h
e two
b
ig
p
r
oduce
r
s. In some states
pick-
y
ou
r
-own anddi
r
ect sales
r
emain st
r
ong. G
r
owing in
h
ig
h
tunnels is
b
ecomingmo
r
e
common in some a
r
eas. Onl
y
inOnta
r
io, Canada is t
h
e
r
e an
y
r
eal inte
r
est in glass
h
ouse
p
r
oduction of st
r
aw
b
e
rr
ies,
b
ut
g
r
owe
r
s a
r
ewa
ry
of t
h
is as
p
r
oduction could
b
e put unde
r
20
For growing profitable
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Inte
r
national Soft F
r
uit Confe
r
ence 2017
D
r
DavidPennell
r
epo
r
ts
