By Clint Thompson
The future of strawberry production in Alabama rests on the variety trials currently being conducted by Edgar Vinson and Alabama Extension.
The assistant research professor and Extension specialist in the Department of Horticulture at Auburn University discussed the importance of his ongoing research, starting with the Camarosa variety.
“We want our growers to have more available. We want them to be able to have more diversity in their operations,” Vinson said. “Camarosa’s great, but it’s not perfect. If we could reach out and expand the offerings to the clientele with some quality berries but at the same time be high producers, that’s what we’re after.”
This marks the sixth year of strawberry evaluations in Alabama. All varieties are being compared to Camarosa, the market standard.
“It’s grown throughout the Southeast and other places as well. It does pretty well here. There’s another variety called Camino Real. It is a high producer and probably the closest to Camarosa in yield. In some years, it has surpassed Camarosa,” Vinson said. “The next is Ruby June. It has a better quality, an attractive berry with really good flavor. Even when the sugars are not that high, it still has a really great flavor; probably the best tasting variety that we have in our trials.
“Next is Albion. It has a lot of flavor. Its benefit is more of its flavor, quality. In terms of yield, it hasn’t really been as reliable over the years. Its flavor is its strongest selling point.”
Chandler was the previous market standard before being passed by Camarosa. Chandler is one of the top yielders and produces good quality. Vinson said there are pockets in the northern part of the state that still prefer Chandler.
There are approximately 111 acres produced in Alabama, which is a decrease from previous years. But the number of operations has increased across the state. There are more farms with less than an acre of production.
