Pioneers of F1 Hybrid Strawberries: Delphy

How Delphy is pioneering the development of new strawberry varieties as a knowledge partner

In the latest article in the series Pioneers of F1 Hybrid Strawberries, we spotlight another crucial partner in this transition. This time, we spoke with Marc van Tilburg, senior cultivation advisor at Delphy, about their role in the rise of F1 Hybrid Strawberries and the changes this brings for growers and their cultivation methods.

In this article, you'll learn:

Why Delphy's perspective as an independent party is crucial to the success of new strawberry varieties.
What the introduction of Limore means for adapting cultivation methods and market opportunities.
The challenges and opportunities in choosing the right cultivation system for strawberries grown from seed.

Delphy is a leading knowledge company that provides advice, practical research, and training worldwide to optimize food and flower production. With more than 250 employees, Delphy combines traditional agricultural knowledge with modern technologies to deliver practical advice to growers. Originally established from Dutch agricultural advisory services, Delphy has since evolved into a global knowledge organization in the plant sector.

From practical experience to innovation
"At Delphy, we truly take on the role of knowledge partner for growers," says Marc van Tilburg, senior strawberry cultivation advisor. "We provide advice on cultivation strategies, crop protection, fertilization, and climate control. Every two weeks, I visit growers to discuss their cultivation practices. This forms the basis of what we do: providing practical knowledge and guidance to growers directly from our field experiences and research."

Marc explains how Delphy helps growers with their daily challenges. "Our slogan is 'We make growers better'. Our goal is to support growers as best as we can by providing them with up-to-date knowledge and practical advice. We do this in close collaboration with our research location, the Innovative Soft Fruit Centre (ISFC) in Horst, where our soft fruit department has been based since 2021."

Collaboration with Limgroup
"Our close contacts with strawberry growers worldwide give us access to a wealth of practical knowledge firsthand. This experience is, in my opinion, a key reason why Limgroup approached us for this project. As an independent advisory and research party, we are not tied to specific breeders or partners, which allows us to always provide an honest opinion on a variety."

"I think this role as an independent party is very valuable to Limgroup," Marc continues. "We look at things with a fresh perspective as outsiders, while companies can sometimes become blind to their own research and results. This allows us to objectively assess the performance of a variety like Limore without being influenced by internal interests or expectations."

Limgroup brought Delphy into a consortium with other Pioneers such as Van den Elzen Plants, Van der Avoird Trayplant, and Gipmans Young Plants. "The collaboration within the consortium is extremely valuable, both for Limgroup and for us as Pioneers. We bring practical knowledge and experience related to cultivation, which allows Limgroup to determine how Limore can best be grown. The feedback we receive from growers about Limore's performance is shared with breeders and researchers to further improve the variety. With the insights we gain within the consortium, we can better serve growers."

“The collaboration within the consortium is extremely valuable, both for Limgroup and for us as Pioneers.”

Changes in cultivation with F1 Hybrid Strawberries
"The introduction of F1 Hybrid Strawberries means a significant change in cultivation methods," explains Marc. "Traditionally, a choice about which variety to grow must sometimes be made as early as 1.5 years before the plant is eventually planted. However, with strawberries grown from seed, we can produce marketable plants within 16 to 20 weeks. This makes cultivation much more flexible and plannable."

Marc is enthusiastic about the benefits but emphasizes that we are still at the beginning of this development. "What we are seeing in the trials now is that Limore can deliver more homogeneous plant material, which is important for a stable cultivation. The breeder can more easily select varieties based on disease resistance, taste, and production levels, but the coming period will mainly be a process of learning and adapting."

"What we are seeing now in the trials is that Limore can provide more homogeneous plant material, which is important for a stable cultivation."

Challenges and opportunities
Marc sees the biggest challenge in choosing the right cultivation system for Limore. "Although F1 Hybrid Strawberries are very flexible and can be adapted to different cultivation systems such as open field and substrate cultivation, more research is needed to determine which system works best. A lot of heat is needed for year-round cultivation, which is an important factor given the current energy prices. On the positive side, the seedlings spend less time in the ground, reducing disease pressure and requiring less crop protection. We also need to determine which markets are most suitable for Limore. In the Netherlands, growers are quite conservative, but in countries like Canada, where growers are already used to growing from seed, I see a lot of potential. We are still at the beginning of strawberries grown from seed, and the coming time will bring more clarity."

The market is curious about Limore. "There is a lot of interest from growers who want to know how Limore performs. They want to know if the plant can compete in terms of production and taste with existing varieties. These kinds of questions are included in our research and advice to growers."

Future outlook
"Although it is still early to make firm predictions, I think F1 Hybrid Strawberries can play a significant and important role in strawberry cultivation," concludes Marc. "The most important thing is that we, as advisors, are ready to support growers in this transition and work with breeders to achieve the best results. As a knowledge partner, we ensure that growers receive the best advice so they can grow the best strawberries. Ultimately, it doesn't matter whether it's Limore or another variety; we remain independent in this as well. But what we have seen so far is very promising. It is very important to stay close to the developments and see what the future holds for the strawberry sector."

“What we have seen so far is very promising, I am curious to see what the future will bring.”

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