Following its first year of existence, the national AOP (association of producer organisations) for strawberries has made its first assessment, which the group’s president Xavier Mas has described as “quite positive”, Fld reported.
The AOP groups together 22 producer organisations representing more than 450 strawberry producers and one shipper.
According to Mr Mas, the aim of the AOP is to make all the regional centres work towards a national programme, in collaboration with technical centre CTIFL and experimentation centre Hortis Aquitaine.
Mr Mas said that it was necessary to define the centres’ priorities and optimise their uses, such as concentrating on varietal development in the southeast and the Loire Valley, while focusing on covered, heated production in Brittany and the southwest.
According to the assessment, the commercial commission, whose objective is to improve competitiveness, is functioning to the satisfaction of its members.
Mr Mas stressed that trust, communication and information-sharing were essential in order to create a united group willing to exchange relevant information.
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