The University of California, Davis, has reached new agreements to license more than a dozen of its strawberry varieties to growers in countries across the world.
The agreements ensure that nurseries and fruit growers in Mexico, South America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East have access to all available varieties developed by the UC Davis Public Strawberry Breeding Program.
UK-based Global Plant Genetics, or GPG, will add 15 legacy varieties of UC Davis strawberry plants to its existing portfolio in China, South America, Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. GPG, which has been a UC Davis master licensee since 2018, already oversees the licensing of a dozen of the more recently developed UC Davis varieties in those markets.
Fresa Fortaleza, or F2, is the new master licensee for the legacy varieties in Mexico. Since 2020, the San Diego-based company has been the master licensee in Mexico for the more recently developed UC Davis varieties.
Helene Dillard, dean of the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences said: "We are pleased to have expanded our agreements with GPG and Fresa Forteleza. We appreciate the shared commitment to maintaining outstanding relationships with our nurseries and growers and providing vigorous support for the UC Davis Public Strawberry Breeding Program."
The new agreements cover:
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The European Union, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom
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Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay
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China
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Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Morocco, and Turkey.
The UC Davis Public Strawberry Breeding Program seeks to address the needs of growers by developing strawberries for positive characteristics including greater yield, flavor, disease resistance, and adaptation to different growing conditions. The university directly licenses strawberry varieties to nurseries in Canada and the U.S. and offers California strawberry growers a competitive advantage through exclusive access to new varieties for two years and reduced royalty rates.
The program, funded primarily by revenue from licensing strawberry varieties, also trains students and postdoctoral researchers to be leaders in the field.
Source: ucdavis.edu