Ohalo has partnered with industry leaders to form the Ohalo Strawberry Consortium, a groundbreaking collaboration to develop consumer-preferred, more flavorful strawberries and bring them to market as true seed.
Traditionally, strawberry plants are propagated vegetatively in nurseries; runner shoots are cut and replanted to create the plants that are eventually transplanted into the field. This process can take years to complete, driving up costs and increasing operating complexity.
Ohalo has introduced a novel proprietary hybrid breeding system that eliminates the need for vegetative propagation by producing uniform strawberry seed. For the first time ever, truly uniform seed can be planted to quickly germinate field-ready strawberry seedlings.
This transformational system will reduce time, cost, and pesticide use, improving production economics for strawberry nurseries and farmers, while creating a more sustainable farming system.
The consortium addresses some of the industry’s most persistent challenges, such as overreliance on limited germplasm, skyrocketing breeding costs, and inefficient nursery systems.
With a focus on consumer-preferred variety development, better tasting strawberries will soon become industry standard.
Hybrid breeding reduces variety development cycles from years to months.
Moving from vegetative to seed propagation means new varieties can be quickly selected and deployed at scale.
True seed reduces nursery costs to propagate plants and field labor to field plants. Hybrid breeding enables accelerated yield gains never before realized in the industry. The net result is improved farmer profitability.
Reduced pesticide use and resource allocation will radically alter the footprint and sustainability of strawberry production.
Hybrid breeding will unlock phenotypes that enhance shelf stability, improving economics and supply chain performance for packers and retail partners.
Unlike traditionally closed breeding programs, the Ohalo Strawberry Consortium aims to make its strawberry varieties broadly available as true seed to growers and industry partners globally, ensuring that farmers everywhere - regardless of size or region - can benefit from the advancements in improved varieties and efficiencies from uniform hybrid seed.
Contact us today to learn more about our varieties and commercial partnership opportunity.
