'Suvetar' and 'Valotar' – new strawberry cultivars

The strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa) cultivars 'Suvetar' and 'Valotar' have been released from the breeding programme of MTT Agrifood Research Finland. Both new cultivars overwintered as well as the control cultivars 'Jonsok' and 'Polka'. 'Suvetar' overwintered even better than 'Polka'. 'Suvetar' was produced from the cross 'Polka' X 'Emily'. It scored better than the control cultivars for sensory assessed skin resistance. Measured fruit firmness of 'Suvetar' was not significantly different from that of 'Polka', but was better than 'Jonsok'. 'Valotar' originates from a cross between 'Jewel' and 'Senga Sengana'. Its measured fruit firmness was better than that of 'Jonsok' and 'Polka'. Considering sensory assessments, the good firmness seems to be largely due to good skin resistance. The fresh flavour, yield, fruit size and fruit appearance of 'Suvetar' and 'Valotar', together with improved fruit firmness, make both the new varieties suitable for the fresh fruit market.