Breeding of New Ever-bearing Strawberry “Doha” Variety

Abstract

“Doha” is a new strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa Duch.) variety, which was released by the Highland Agriculture Research Institute in 2021. The “Doha” variety originates from a 2014 cross between “Saebong No. 3” and “Yeolha,” both of which exhibited excellent ever-bearing characteristics, including continuous flowering and large fruits under long-day and high temperature conditions. This new cultivar was initially named “Saebong No. 13” after examining its characteristics and productivity during summer cultivation between 2015 and 2018. After regional adaptability tests, “Doha” was selected from “Saebong No. 13” as an elite cultivar. The general characteristics of “Doha” include spreading, elliptic leaves, and strong growth. The fruits are long and conical and of a red color. The plant height of “Doha” was similar to that of “Goha,” but the number of leaves was lower. The number of flower clusters of “Doha” was 8.6, which was 2.8 fewer than that of the control variety, “Goha,” with 11.4. The average fruit weight of “Doha” was 13.9 g, which was 4.9 g heavier than that of “Goha.” The fruit hardness of “Doha” was 35.5 g·㎜−2, which was 9.4 g·㎜−2 harder than that of “Goha.” The marketable yield of “Doha” was 26,971 ㎏·㏊−1, 125% more than that of “Goha” with 21,479 ㎏·㏊−1. The findings of this study suggest that “Doha” is a hard fruit and high-yielding variety of ever-bearing strawberries that could increase farming income when distributing to farmers.