Source: NCSU COLLEGE OF AG & LIFE SCIENCES, 10/29/21


Fun fact: Strawberry plants have thousands of identical siblings. They are propagated, or reproduced, from a parent plant over several years at special nurseries and then sold to commercial strawberry growers for planting.

Another fact that’s not so fun: Plant diseases can spread in the soils and leaves of these propagated plants, sometimes undetected. When this diseased planting material is transferred into commercial fields, it can create economic havoc for the strawberry growers that plant them.

“This can happen any time in any strawberry growing region of the U.S.,” said Small Fruits Extension Specialist and Assistant Professor Mark Hoffmann.

Hoffmann will lead a team of researchers across NC State and 10 other partnering institutions to combat this issue for all states, including states like North Carolina, which ranks third in the nation for fresh market strawberry production by harvest value, producing approximately 20 million pounds a year on roughly 1,500 acres. The annual value of production: roughly $26 million.

Much of this is generated in rural communities that rely heavily on agriculture to support their economies.

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