Strawberry Cultivation under Diverse Agro-Climatic Conditions of India

Figures & data

FIGURE 1 Outline map of India showing areas where strawberry is being grown or strawberry cultivation is possible (color figure available online).

TABLE 1 Plant Characteristics of Strawberry Cultivars Grown in the Sub-Tropical Plains with Three Kinds of Ground Covers (Jharkhand, Ranchi, N 85.33°, E 23.35°; Elevation, 629 m)

	Plant height (cm)			No. leaves/plant			Plant spread (cm)
Cultivar	Black Poly.	Paddy straw	Deen. grass	Black Poly.	Paddy straw	Deen. grass	Black Poly.	Paddy straw	Deen. grass
Sweet Charlie	11.5	12.5	6.5	35.8	23.3	12.5	23.5	22.9	15.4
Phenomenal	14.9	14.5	11.5	48.9	28.7	20.5	29.6	25.0	22.5
North West	13.3	10.9	7.8	39.9	27.7	16.6	27.8	26.9	19.9
Sasta	14.4	11.1	10.9	35.6	22.3	21.6	28.8	23.3	24.5
Pusa Pride (No. 7)	8.5	7.9	12.6	23.8	17.7	19.9	18.7	20.7	21.6
Etna	13.9	9.7	12.9	34.4	24.6	30.8	31.1	24.4	24.5
Redcoat	8.0	9.7	10.8	24.5	22.6	10.5	18.8	20.4	15.5
Florida-90	13.3	10.5	10.8	41.1	21.6	19.8	26.8	21.5	22.3
Pusa Sweet (No. 5)	10.5	7.7	7.5	20.6	11.4	11.1	18.9	16.4	15.8
Belrubi	15.5	8.8	11.5	54.5	21.5	10.5	31.2	21.6	20.2
Dana	14.4	6.5	10.9	36.6	15.5	14.4	31.5	15.9	21.0
Dilpasand	11.5	13.3	11.8	39.1	44.4	19.9	26.6	26.3	21.7
Howard-17	16.6	9.5	10.4	44.9	21.7	9.9	35.5	20.4	19.7
Katrain Sweet	11.7	8.8	10.6	31.3	18.8	15.5	26.6	15.6	19.1
Douglas	9.5	6.9	9.9	17.7	10.5	10.6	21.3	15.7	19.5
Shimla Del.	13.5	8.5	13.5	41.4	18.9	23.3	26.7	19.8	23.4
Jutogh Special	12.9	7.5	12.7	36.6	16.6	23.3	27.7	16.6	23.2
Larsan	10.5	10.7	8.9	28.8	24.4	16.6	21.1	24.4	19.9
Blakemore	14.4	10.5	9.9	35.5	14.4	20.5	26.6	15.1	15.9
Himalayan Scarlet (S-1)	12.2	7.7	7.5	41.1	10.5	15.6	25.5	18.8	19.9
Missionary	13.3	11.1	11.5	43.3	24.4	32.2	29.9	23.3	26.6
Torrey	13.3	12.2	9.9	24.4	29.9	8.8	21.1	27.7	13.3
Seascape	16.6	12.7	14.4	36.6	26.7	23.3	31.8	27.9	28.7
Amartara Red (No. A)	10.8	8.5	7.2	20.7	18.7	10.5	25.7	19.1	20.7
Addie	11.6	13.5	12.4	24.0	26.4	22.6	23.3	26.6	26.1
Majestic	11.5	9.8	10.7	28.8	23.3	12.2	27.7	18.8	16.6
Catskill	8.5	7.7	12.2	20.7	11.8	21.1	20.5	16.6	21.1
V.L.	13.3	10.5	13.7	31.8	21.2	25.5	29.8	25.5	29.8
Chandler	15.5	12.2	12.8	45.5	22.2	15.6	30.4	22.8	22.7
Fairfax	12.2	8.9	11.5	26.2	14.3	17.7	28.8	21.9	25.5
Selva	9.9	7.6	10.8	33.3	10.5	11.6	24.4	15.5	18.7
Fern	14.2	8.5	9.8	35.5	14.6	17.7	26.8	19.6	20.4
Pajaro	13.3	9.9	13.5	30.7	26.6	25.5	25.7	25.9	29.8
Means due to mulches	12.6	9.9	10.9	33.7	20.8	17.8	26.4	21.3	21.4
CD at 5% Mulch	0.248			1.093			0.501
Cultivar	1.945			6.401			3.321
M × C	1.123			3.651			1.913

TABLE 2 Yield Characteristics of Strawberry Cultivars Grown in the Sub-Tropical Plains with Three Kinds of Ground Cover (Jharkhand, Ranchi, N 85.33°, E 23.35°; Elevation, 629 m)

	Percent of total yield before peak fruiting			Fruit weight (g/fruit)			Yield (Kg/10 plants)
Cultivar	Black Poly.	Paddy straw	Deen. grass	Black Poly.	Paddy straw	Deen. grass	Black Poly.	Paddy straw	Deen. grass
Sweet Charlie	83.8	73.2	80.8	4.7	5.7	4.4	0.75	0.90	1.04
Phenomenal	66.3	81.8	65.4	4.2	3.6	4.2	2.68	1.74	1.59
North West	82.0	65.1	93.2	4.5	4.0	3.9	0.92	0.69	0.61
Sasta	84.9	96.8	98.6	3.8	3.4	4.1	0.60	0.39	0.58
Pusa Pride (No. 7)	75.8	71.3	98.5	3.7	4.2	4.0	1.49	0.98	0.55
Etna	54.7	49.0	46.7	6.6	5.9	5.0	3.39	4.76	2.28
Redcoat	79.1	59.3	54.7	4.2	5.2	4.5	0.89	1.18	0.58
Florida-90	98.1	93.8	59.3	4.9	3.3	3.1	1.89	0.35	0.39
Pusa Sweet (No. 5)	97.5	99.6	98.7	2.8	3.4	3.2	0.56	0.63	0.71
Belrubi	65.3	37.3	55.1	3.9	4.5	4.9	2.57	1.26	0.79
Dana	74.6	33.0	70.2	4.3	3.3	3.5	2.89	0.87	0.97
Dilpasand	70.0	59.7	46.7	5.0	3.4	3.3	2.30	0.66	0.42
Howard-17	61.0	61.4	94.6	4.8	4.1	5.2	0.99	0.75	0.81
Katrain Sweet	88.1	70.2	62.4	3.1	3.1	3.5	0.78	0.74	0.79
Douglas	59.7	92.9	95.4	7.3	6.5	7.4	3.18	2.97	1.99
Shimla Del.	74.9	87.2	64.9	4.4	3.8	4.2	2.19	0.98	1.17
Jutogh Special	76.3	69.5	68.1	3.7	3.1	3.8	1.59	0.98	0.79
Larsan	79.4	37.4	45.4	4.2	5.9	3.4	1.49	1.18	1.09
Blakemore	61.1	95.2	99.1	4.6	4.1	2.9	0.48	0.69	1.03
Himalayan Scarlet S-1	90.7	31.0	94.90	3.1	3.8	3.1	0.53	0.58	0.62
Missionary	70.5	47.34	53.1	3.3	4.8	4.9	0.79	0.66	0.49
Torrey	64.8	55.4	84.8	4.2	3.7	4.0	1.96	0.56	1.41
Seascape	61.4	49.95	85.4	5.7	3.0	3.6	0.79	0.89	0.58
Amartara Red (No. A)	37.2	49.8	59.2	3.7	3.2	3.4	0.49	0.65	0.59
Addie	84.5	93.6	55.3	3.2	4.3	3.7	1.09	0.85	0.59
Majestic	83.1	38.3	63.8	3.7	3.8	3.4	1.49	0.98	0.78
Catskill	30.2	55.4	59.0	6.2	5.7	4.9	1.91	1.65	1.34
V.L.	94.3	61.6	38.9	4.0	4.4	4.0	2.02	1.48	1.91
Chandler	69.6	98.6	87.3	5.0	4.5	4.2	0.79	0.98	0.89
Fairfax	73.0	58.7	92.0	4.8	5.3	4.2	1.32	1.27	2.72
Selva	75.4	93.3	65.3	4.3	4.9	5.8	0.98	0.89	1.25
Fern	76.7	35.4	89.9	4.5	3.6	4.2	0.89	0.54	0.76
Pajaro	49.3	39.5	56.8	3.5	5.3	3.2	0.72	0.87	0.97
Means due to mulches	72.5	64.9	72.2	4.42	4.32	4.15	1.44	1.08	1.00
CD at 5% Mulch	N.S. ^z			N S			N.S.
Cultivar	32.86			1.16			0.45
M × C	19.40			2.23			0.37
^zNon significant

TABLE 3 Characteristics of Strawberry Cultivars Grown in Hills (Himachal Pradesh, Shimla, N 31.68°, E 77.13°; Elevation, 2000 m)

Cultivars/Lines	No. runners/ plant	Leaf spot severity (0–5 scale)	Fruit wt (g)	TSS. (°brix)	No. fruits/ plant	Yield/ plant (g)	Yield/ ha (quart)
Douglas	6.9	4.3	17.3	10.0	12	209	140
Selva	11.0	4.9	18.5	8.5	10	186	124
Fern	9.4	3.5	9.0	9.5	17	154	103
Larsan	29.0	4.3	3.2	10.0	18	59	39
Phenomenal	25.6	3.5	3.1	9.7	19	60	40
Torrey	23.1	3.9	4.5	10.1	15	68	56
Pusa Sweet (No. 5)	18.2	3.4	4.6	12.5	19	88	59
Pusa Pride (No. 7)	16.2	3.7	4.8	12.7	24	117	78
Jutogh Special	32.3	3.4	4.6	12.5	27	124	83
Shimla Delicious	25.9	2.8	17.3	10.0	12	209	140
Katrain Sweet	20.1	3.5	3.6	10.1	16	58	39
Himalayan Scarlet	17.3	4.4	3.5	12.3	19	68	45
Redcoat	17.7	4.4	3.3	11.0	23	77	51
Dilpasand	10.8	4.7	4.5	9.2	22	99	67
North West	15.0	4.7	3.2	9.3	12	38	26
Majestic	13.5	34	3.5	8.5	20	70	47
Tioga	16.9	4.9	4.0	10.5	18	72	48
Amartara Red (No. A)	17.3	4.2	3.0	11.6	24	75	50
N. R. Round Head	10.1	3.6	5.1	9.3	22	113	76
V.L.	11.3	3.7	4.0	12.0	21	84	56
Florida-90	15.4	4.7	3.5	11.9	18	63	42
Sasta	12.4	2.5	4.5	9.9	13	59	40
Missionary	24.0	4.2	5.8	9.8	18	105	70
Howard-17	15.3	4.6	5.0	10.5	21	105	70
Blakemore	14.5	4.9	5.0	11.0	18	91	60
Shasta	10.1	4.6	6.0	10.5	24	145	97
Chandler	10.6	4.5	16.0	8.0	15	240	161
Etna	11.2	4.5	24.1	8.22	10	256	171
Dana	14.5	4.4	9.4	10.0	20	196	131
Belrubi	16.3	4.7	11.6	11.5	20	233	156
Addie	10.7	4.2	8.0	9.0	15	120	80
Confictura	11.4	4.3	14.0	9.5	15	211	141
Pajaro	13.7	3.9	7.7	9.2	23	178	119
Fairfax	14.9	3.7	6.0	9.92	21	126	84
Gorella	11.0	4.4	7.1	9.03	18	128	86
Brighton	13.5	3.3	8.4	10.0	18	153	102
Catskill	11.8	4.1	7.0	10.5	12	89	59
Sweet Charlie	15.5	4.1	11.5	11.32	22	254	170
Seascape	18.0	4.6	11.0	11.9	18	198	133
Standard deviation	5.7	0.9	5.2	1.3	4.2	63	42

TABLE 4 Effect of Plastic Soil Mulch on Weed Growth on Strawberry Plots in Hills; the Values are Presented as the Percentage of the Weed Biomass Weighed in the Naked/Bare (Unmulched) Plots

	Weed biomass (% of naked or unmulched soil) ^z
	23 March 2008		6 June 2008
Mulch	Fresh wt.	Dry wt.	Fresh wt.	Dry wt.
Black polyethylene	29.3	18.4	15.8	13.7
Transparent polyethylene	63.4	57.3	18.6	17.6
^zMeans of percent values from twenty 0.90-m^2 plots.

TABLE 5 Economics for Strawberry Production in the Hills for 1 bigha ^z (Himachal Pradesh, Shimla, N 31.68°, E 77.13°; Elevation, 2000 m)

Capital costs	Amount in INR (Rs)
Cost of drip irrigation system	10,000.00
Cost of 300 L refrigerator	30,000.00
Cost of plastics and infrastructure for tunnels	25,000.00
Total capital outlay	65,000.00
Recurring costs (over 6-year period)
Cost of strawberry plants in 1st and 4th year @ Rs 2/plant	20,000.00
Field preparation (twice)	5,000.00
Cost of chemicals, manures, fertilizers, etc.	10,500.00
Labor charges @ Rs 2000 p.m.	1,50,000.00
Marketing costs	21,000.00
Total recurring costs	2,06,500.00
Total outlay	2,71,500.00
Projected returns
Description	Amount in INR (Rs)
Strawberry fruit yield (at lower side)
1st year @ 200 g/plant, Rs 60/Kg	60,000.00
2nd year @ 300 g/plant, Rs 60/Kg	90,000.00
3rd year @ 200 g/plant, Rs 60/Kg	60,000.00
4th year @ 200 g/plant, Rs 60/Kg	60,000.00
5th year @ 300 g/plant, Rs 60/Kg	90,000.00
6th year @ 200 g/plant, Rs 60/Kg	60,000.00
Sale of strawberry plants	270,000.00
Total receipt	690,000.00
Net profit @ 6th year (in the hills)	418,500.00
^z1 ha = 2.47 Acre = 12.5 Bigha.

TABLE 6 Cost Estimates of Strawberry Cultivation in the Plains (Jharkhand, Ranchi, N 85.33°, E 23.35°; Elevation, 629 m ASL) per Bigha ^z

Capital costs	Amount in INR (Rs)
Cost of drip irrigation system	10,000.00
Cost of 300 L refrigerator	30,000.00
Cost of plastics and infrastructure for tunnels	25,000.00
Total capital outlay	65,000.00
Recurring costs (over 6-year period)
Cost of strawberry plants in 1st to 6th year @ Rs 2/plant	60,000.00
Field preparation (six)	15,000.00
Cost of chemicals, manures, fertilizers, etc.	10,500.00
Labor charges @ Rs 3000 p.m.	150,000.00
Marketing costs	63,000.00
Total recurring costs	298,500.00
Total outlay	363,500.00
Projected returns
Description	Amount in INR (Rs)
Strawberry fruit yield (at lower side)
1st year @ 400 g/plant, Rs 100/Kg	200,000.00
2nd year @ 400 g/plant, Rs 100/Kg	200,000.00
3rd year @ 400 g/plant, Rs 100/Kg	200,000.00
4th year @ 400 g/plant, Rs 100/Kg	200,000.00
5th year @ 400 g/plant, Rs 100/Kg	200,000.00
6th year @ 400 g/lant, Rs 100/Kg	200,000.00
Total receipts	1,200,000.00
Net profit @ after 6th year (in the plains)	847,500.00
^z1 ha = 2.47 Acre = 12.5 Bigha.