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Red, ripe strawberries are the hallmark of spring in California. Two new varieties from the Public Strawberry Breeding Program at the �����о���, will provide consumers with big, flavorful strawberries throughout fall and winter, too.

“These cultivars were developed to provide high-quality fruit from late summer through the holidays,” said Professor Steve Knapp, director of the �����о��� Strawberry Breeding Program.

The new varieties — and — are “extreme day neutral,” which means they were bred for summer planting, especially in coastal climates from Santa Maria south. They were developed to replace , the only other UC variety that is planted in the summer and harvested in the fall and winter. Portola is popular with farmers for its high yield, but some consumers say the variety lacks flavor.

“Finn and Mojo are sweeter than Portola without any drop-off in yield because so much of the fruit is large and marketable throughout the harvest season,” explained Glenn Cole, breeder and field manager with the �����о��� Strawberry Breeding Program.

Since its inception in the 1930s, the �����о��� Strawberry Breeding Program has developed more than 60 patented varieties, turned strawberries into a year-round crop and increased strawberry yield from about 6 tons per acre in the 1950s to more than 30 tons per acre today. The United States is the world’s largest producer of strawberries, and almost 90 percent of them are grown in California. About 60 percent of the state’s strawberry fields are planted with varieties developed at �����о���.

Counting Finn and Mojo, ������� has released seven new varieties in the last 18 months, each with its own farming niche to help growers manage disease, control costs and produce plenty of large, sweet berries using fewer resources. The breeders have more varieties in the pipeline, all of which will offer genetic resistance to Fusarium wilt, a soil-borne pathogen that can destroy entire fields of strawberries.

Farmers can buy Finn and Mojo at nurseries starting this spring. Also, are available at the ������� Office of Research site.