After a decade of crossbreeding hundreds of seeds, scientists at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in New Haven have cultivated a strawberry that is resistant to the fruit's most common parasites.
It also tastes great, said Richard Cowles, the scientist who did the crossbreeding.
The experiment station, which investigates plants and their pests, insects, soil and water, is seeking a patent for the strawberry. If one is granted, a Massachusetts production facility will grow the breed to sell to commercial growers and pick-your-own farms around the United States. Royalties from the patent would be generate revenue for the state, Louis Magnarelli, the station's director said.
The strawberry, named the Rubicon, is resistant to black root rot, caused by a microscopic worm, and the black vine weevil, a 19th-century import from Europe. Put the two together, and you can completely trash a strawberry's root system, Cowles said.
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