The main objective is to provide the knowledge and tools to use genetic resources of strawberry, raspberry and blueberry, as well as pre-breeding material to create new breeding routes. The work is aimed at the creation of European varieties with resistance to different and changing climatic conditions, as well as adaptability to different cultivation systems. Equally important are solutions aimed at breeding consumer-friendly varieties for fresh consumption of berries with high nutritional quality. With these goals in mind, the most interesting genetic resources in the various public and private genebank collections as well as in EU breeding programs will be identified and used for the project. The breeding value platform will be established and validated for strawberry, raspberry and blueberry, the soft fruit species that determine the cultivation and exploitation for soft fruit in Europe and have the greatest economic potential.

The project has a total budget of €6.98 million and is led by coordinator Prof. Bruno Mezzetti, Università Politecnica Delle Marche, Italy. A total of 20 partners from eight European countries are involved. From Germany, in addition to the JKI, Institute for Breeding Research on Fruit Dresden-Pillnitz, Eurice, the European Research and Project Office GmbH, the Research Center Jülich GmbH and Hansabred GmbH & Co.KG are participating. The project officially launched its activities with a first virtual meeting on January 20-21, 2021. Further information can be found here.