Events in Mahabaleshwar and Tamil Nadu showcased NSG’s breeding programme including its latest strawberry varieties
Italian berry breeder Nova Siri Genetics (NSG) has consolidated its partnership with India’s Mahaberry and 8 Berries following the signing of an agreement in August 2024.
The companies held two conferences in December, hosting local strawberry producers, associations, and government agencies for a series of presentations on NSG’s breeding programme and variety development.
NSG breeder, Nicola Tufaro, was the keynote speaker at the events held in the strawberry growing region of Mahabaleshwar in central India and the Nilgiris district of Tamil Nadu, an area in southern India with great potential for growth in strawberry cultivation.
“It was a valuable opportunity to present our genetic improvement activities and new varieties to producers, associations, and government agencies,” Tufaro said. “We noticed a strong interest from the Indian players in new strawberry cultivars capable of improving both production performances and product quality present to date in that territory.”
Pillai Srinivasan, managing director of Mahaberry and 8 berries, said the presentations were received with considerable interest by Indian growers.
“The producers in Mahabaleshwar are looking for new better performing strawberry varieties in terms of both quantity and fruit quality to replace the age-old existing varieties,” Srinivasan said. “Therefore, NSG’s presentation at the conferences sparked great enthusiasm among producers, as they were able to learn about NSG’s new varieties, which are showing very positive results in areas of the world with climatic conditions similar to India’s berry-growing regions. New growers were encouraged and were delighted about the news regarding further establishment of strawberry plant nurseries in India for the production of quality plants.”
NSG’s visit was also an opportunity to analyse the performance of some of its strawberry cultivars that have already been present in the country for some time.
Its Melissa variety has become a popular premium variety for many producing companies in India. NSG said the cultivar showed very good production performances, standing out for high-quality yields and good tolerance to pathogens.
Recently introduced variety NSG 203 – known as Marimbella – has also gained recognition for its adaptation to open field cultivation which is the standard cultivation practice in India and its high tolerance to soil pathogens, given the lack of soil disinfestation.
