Strawberry Breeding is no Easy Business
Dr. Mitchell Feldman walks us through the science of joy.
Strawberry breeding is hard. Most plants and animals (including humans) are diploids—they carry two sets of chromosomes.
Strawberries? They’re octoploids. That means eight sets of chromosomes—four times the genetic material packed into every cell. That’s a lot of DNA and genes to work with. Trying to wrangle all of that into the perfect combination of flavor, firmness, shelf life, and disease resistance? No small feat.
It’s this complexity that first attracted Dr. Mitchell Feldmann to strawberry breeding. While in grad school, he noticed that strawberries were surprisingly under-researched compared to other crops. Today, he leads the Strawberry Breeding Program and Research Group at the University of California, Davis.
We reached out to Dr. Feldmann to learn more about the science of strawberries—and what led him into the field.
A Balancing Act
“We have many objectives,” he told us. His lab works to balance competing goals—disease resistance, shelf life, texture, color, and, of course, flavor.
He walked us through the history of several UC Davis varieties and how they shaped California’s strawberry landscape.
One of the public program’s major success stories was Chandler, which dominated the California market from its debut in 1983 through the mid-90s. Chandlers are still around today, and for many they are the undisputed king of flavor. Then they were displaced by another UC Davis variety with different goals..
Camarosa marked a shift in market focus—from flavor to high yield, long-distance shipability, and shelf stability. At one point, Camarosa accounted for the majority of strawberry plants sold in California. Camarosas are still cultivated in the southeastern USA and around the world.
Then came Albion, released in 2006—a variety that brought flavor back to the forefront. Albion delivered on sweetness, firmness, and disease resistance. It’s still a favorite among small, quality-driven farms—including Rootstock’s growing partners.
California Strawberry Acreage by Variety
Acreage data pre-2009 estimated from UC Davis publications, academic research and grower reports. 2009 onwards sourced from www.calstrawberry.com.
An Explosion of Activity
Over the past decade, strawberry breeding has entered a new era. Advances in genetic science and access to powerful new tools have made it possible for breeders to develop better berries.
According to Dr. Feldmann, this is the most exciting time yet to be working with berries. “There’s been so much activity and innovation. There’s always something new to work on—a new problem to solve. Being part of, and now leading, a program focused on bringing innovations to growers is a dream come true.”
It is a competitive and fast-moving market, growers have to make tough calls.
“It’s a zero-sum game,” Feldmann said. “There are only so many acres. Every new variety takes space from another.”
The competition comes largely from proprietary varieties released by private breeding programs like Driscoll’s and Plant Sciences, Inc. The balance between public and proprietary strawberries shifts year-to-year.
“Farmers make the best decisions they can,” he said, “but it’s often based on incomplete information. They might hear something good about one variety and go with that, even if it is only for 1 or 2 years.”
“It’s a zero-sum game. There are only so many acres. Every new variety takes space from another.”
By 2009, Albion had become a major publicly available variety—but it soon saw a sharp decline in acreage. That same year, the release of Monterey briefly reversed the trend, as public varieties regained some ground.
He sees that competition as a sign of a healthy marketplace that ultimately leads to more choices and better berries.
The UC Davis Strawberry Breeding Program—led first by Dr. Steven Knapp and now by Dr. Feldmann—aims to provide growers with the most complete, science-backed information on variety performance, disease resistance, shelf life, and flavor, helping them make more informed decisions in this competitive marketplace.
Kool-Aid Moments and Bite-Sized Happiness
Our conversation took a sudden turn—from genomes, acreage, and business incentives—to something more personal. Dr. Feldmann lit up as he recalled a specific time he tasted a day-neutral variety called Mojo—released by UC Davis in 2021. It hit him like a bolt of lightning!
In that moment, memories of childhood summers came rushing back. Warm afternoons, mom’s red Kool-Aid on the front porch, sticky fingers from sun-warmed strawberries, and trips to the California Strawberry Festival—all captured in a single bite.
Yes, Feldmann is driven by the technical and scientific challenges of crafting the perfect strawberry—but his voice softened as he reflected on what really fuels his work.
“They’re a bite-sized piece of happiness,” he said. “You eat one, and for a moment, you’re reminded of summer, of joy, of a holiday, time spent with family and loved ones.”
“That’s what I’m trying to bring to people,” he said.
Big thanks to Dr. Feldmann for his passion, insights, and generous contributions to this story. Curious about ongoing research or new public varieties? Reach him directly: mjfeldmann@ucdavis.edu
(This story also appears in the July 10 edition of the Rootstock Gazette)
