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Am. J. Life Sci. Innov. 1(1), 2022

The American Journal of  Life Science and Innovation (AJLSI) is an international, open access, and blind peer-reviewed 
Journal that publishes research articles emphasizing life sciences and innovations. The Journal comprises techniques 
suitable for promoting the dissemination of  research findings that are expected to benefit the basic needs of  health, 
agriculture, biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and food industries. AJLSI also publishes life science articles on evidence-
based practices, thus improving the quality of  life. AJLSI accepts manuscripts throughout the year; all submitted 
manuscripts are rigorously reviewed, and publish articles online first.
Frequency: 3 issues per year 
Area of  publication: Life science and technologies, innovations in life sciences and development of  living orgasms, 
and related fields.

Editorial Team

Professor Dr. Nirmal Chandra Roy
Sylhet Agricultural University, Bangladesh
Dr. Sejuti Mondal
Texas State University, USA
Dr. Sandra Milena Camargo Silva
Materials Engineering, Pedagogical and Technological University of  Colombia,
Colombia
Dr. Myint Thuzar
Professor, Yezin Agricultural University (YAU)
Myanmar
Dr. Md. Morshedur Rahman
Professor, Department of  Dairy and Poultry Science
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, Bangladesh
Dr. Omar Faruk Miazi
Professor, Department of  Genetics and Animal Breeding
Chattogram Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (CVASU)
Chattogram, Bangladesh
Dr. Yulianna Puspitasari
Faculty of  Veterinary Medicine, Universitas Airlangga
Surabaya, Indonesia
Dr. Md Robiul Karim
Associate professor, Department of  Medicine
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University
Gazipur, Bangladesh
Dr. Mst. Rubia Banu
Assistant Professor, Department of  Fisheries Management
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University
Gazipur, Bangladesh
Dr. Tilak Chandra Nath
Associate professor, Department of  Parasitology
Sylhet Agricultural University, Bangladesh
Professor Dr. Mrityunjoy Kunda
Dean, Faculty of  Fisheries
Sylhet Agricultural University, Bangladesh

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American Journal of  Life Science and 
Innovation (AJLSI)

Evaluation of  Low Chilling Strawberry (Fragraria ananassa) Varieties with Respect to Yield 
and Quality in Eastern Nepal

S. Dhakal1*, D. Shashan2, B. Shrestha1

Volume 1 Issue 1, Year 2022
ISSN: 2833-1397 (Online)

DOI: https://doi.org/10.54536/ajlsi.v1i1.211
https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajlsi

Article Information ABSTRACT

Received: January 24, 2022

Accepted: February 26, 2022

Published: April 18, 2022

The experiment entitled “Evaluation of  low chilling strawberry (Fragraria ananassa) varieties 
with respect yield and quality in eastern Nepal” was conducted in Dharan and Biratnagar 
of  Nepal with five varieties ‘EMCO 33’, ‘EMCO 32’, ‘Florida Fortuna’, ‘Florida Beauty’ 
and ‘Sweet Sensation’. The experiment was laid out in Factorial RCBD where variety and 
location was considered as factors. From the experiment highest number of  fruits per plant 
(13.22) and maximum fruit set (95.72%) was recorded with variety ‘EMCO 33’. However, 
maximum number of  fruits per plot (444.25) with only 14.04 % of  unmarketable fruit and 
highest yield of  9068.75 grams per plot with 7976.00 grams of  marketable yield per plot was 
obtained with variety ‘EMCO 32’ in Dharan. Comparing the length and diameter of  fruit va-
riety ‘EMCO 32’ (49.00 cm×43.42 cm) and variety ‘EMCO 33’ (49.04 cm×38.41 cm) seems 
more appealing in form. pH, vitamin C and TA content was found higher in variety ‘EMCO 
33’ (3.48, 71.89 mg/g and 0.90 % respectively) and higher TSS content (6.57 0 Brix) was 
obtained with variety ‘EMCO 32’ with no interaction effect for quality traits. Thus among 
treatment combinations variety ‘EMCO 32’ followed by ‘EMCO 33’ in Dharan conditions 
is more preferable to other treatments and also both the varieties perform well compared 
to other varieties in Biratnagar conditions also. However still more studies are required to 
assess the varietal performance and it would be premature to recommend suitable variety 
for given locations. 

INTRODUCTION
The modern cultivated strawberry (Fragaria ananassa 
Duch.) is a hybrid of  two largely dioecious, octoploid 
species, Fragaria chelonesis Duch and Fragaria virginiana Duch 
belonging to family Rosaceae. Basically, it is herbaceous 
perennial and short day plant. It grows predominantly in 
the temperate climate but worldwide it is the most widely 
distributed fruit crop due to its genetic diversity, highly 
heterozygous nature and broad range of  environmental 
adaptation (Anderson and Guttridge, 1982; Dale et al., 
2000).
Strawberry is cultivated in limited regions of  Nepal 
in Nuwakot district and its periphery and choice of  
varieties is limited to Nyoho, Ohno, Eyeberry and 
Akhime.  Productivity of  strawberry in Nepal is only 
9 mt/ha compared to world productivity 23.58 mt/ha 
(DADO, 2017; FAO, 2019). Because of  limited research, 
strawberry cultivation is still in womb stage in Nepal. Only 
limited varieties are available. Previously, Nyoho variety 
was widely cultivated recently, Ankhime and  Eyeberry 
varieties are also introduced. Cultivation of  strawberry 
on other hand is concentrated in hilly areas of  Nepal 
potential areas has not been identified no studies on 
strawberry in terai is conducted Strawberry once thought 
to be temperate fruit can be grown in tropical areas too. 
Since strawberry is high value fruit, more potential areas 
need to be identified and tropical low chilling requiring 
varieties need to be explored. So, 5 low chilling strawberry 
varieties ‘Florida Beauty’, ‘Sweet Sensation’, ‘Fortuna’, 
‘EMCO 32’ and ‘EMCO 33’ were studied in two domains 
Biratnagar and Dharan in easterrn Nepal to compare 

Keywords

Fruit, Nepal, Quality, 
Strawberry varieties, Yield

their performance under different growing condition 
with following objectives:

• To study the comparative yield performance of  low 
chilling required five strawberry varieties in two locations

• To assess the quality of  fruit of  different strawberry 
varieties under different growing location.

LITERATURE REVIEW
World Production of  strawberry is in increasing trend, 
it was 4.4 million tonnes in 2000 AD to 9.2 million 
tonnes in year 2017 (FAO, 2019) which is almost twice. 
China leads the world Production with 3.7 million 
tonnes in year 2017 A.D which is almost one third of  
world production while USA has highest productivity 
of  67 tonnes/ha.  Here in Nepal strawberry production 
is concentrated in Nuwakot District covering area of  
55 ha and the production is around 495 mt where 254 
families are involved in strawberry cultivation (DADO, 
2017). Nepal imports 10,826 Kg of  strawberry annually 
which is worth NRs 2.1 million (TEPC, 2019). The 
Japanese first saw the potential for strawberry farming in 
Kakani 25 km to the north of  Kathmandu ,25 years ago 
when agronomist Matsuura Hiroshi brought six sample 
plants which flourished and spread among farmers who 
till then had been growing radish for the Kathmandu 
market, in 1991. The variety of  strawberries cultivated 
in Nepal Akhime, Nyoho, require an altitude of  1500 - 
2500m with a temperature range of  4-25 degree Celsius 
and 3000-4000 ml of  rainfall, making Kakani the ideal 
location (Nepali Times, 2017). Currently more than 
700 households are involved in commercial farming, 

1 Department of  Horticulture, Faculty of  Agriculture, Agriculture and Forestry University, Nepal
2 Department of  Entomology, Faculty of  Agriculture, Agriculture and Forestry University, Nepal
* Corresponding author’s e-mail: shivadkl94@gmail.com

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each producing approximately 1000kg of  strawberries 
per season (MEDEP, 2010). Nuwakot district has been 
gaining prominence in strawberry cultivation as a summer 
fruit. Kakani and Okharpauwa VDCs are regarded as the 
pocket area for strawberry cultivation. 
Once suitable temperature and day length conditions are 
met, strawberry flower buds are initiated. Initially, the 
apical meristem broadens, then the sepal, petal, stamen 
and carpel primordia develop in sequence and start to 
enlarge (Darrow, 1966; Darnell, 2003).
The primary flower emerges first, followed by the 
secondary, tertiary and quaternary flowers (Hancock, 
1999). Typically the inflorescence includes one primary 
flower and two or three, or sometimes four, secondary 
flowers terminally on individual branches of  the main 
stem (Darnell, 2003). At least 30% of  the carpels need to 
be fertilized for fruit to develop good shape (Day, 1993), 
although Guttridge (1979) reported 70-80% were needed.
Strawberry fruit development can be divided into several 
stages: small green, large green, white, pink and red. The 
weight and size of  the fruit is largest at the red stage 
(Darrow, 1966; Abeles and Takeda, 1990). 
When fruits take about 30 days to develop from bloom 
to ripening, cell division occurs first and ends 10-15 
days after anthesis (Cheng & Breen, 1992). Then the 
cells enlarge and expand towards the inside of  the fruit. 
However, although the cells divide and expand, the 
main factor which causes the variation in fruit size is the 
number of  cells at anthesis (Cheng & Breen, 1992). Cell 
division contributes between 15-20% of  the total growth. 
The remaining growth comes from cell enlargement by 
cells expanding towards inside of  the fruit (Hancock, 
1999).
Many day-neutral strawberry cultivars require a dormancy 
period of  between 675 and 1000 hours in a conditions of  
-1 to 10° C (Stewart & Folta, 2010). Studies show day/
night temperatures of  18/14° C as the ideal for fruit 
production (Hancock, 1999). 
Heat stress is a challenge in strawberry production that has 
been reported all over the world. In general, strawberry 
plants under heat stress grow more slowly, and produce 
fewer and smaller fruit (Renquist et al., 1982; Hellman 
and Travis, 1988).
Temperature and photoperiod are the two major 
factors which influence the transition from vegetative 
to floral growth. Flower bud initiation is inhibited when 
temperatures are above 12 to 28°C depending on day 
length and flowering type (Chabot, 1978; Okimura and 
Igarashi, 1997; Dale et al., 2009).
One recent study showed that the developmental stages 
of  flower buds in ‘Akihime’ strawberry were were 
significantly larger at 22°C than those of  the untreated 
plants (Kim et al., 2009).
Fruit number per plant decreases as temperature increases. 
In ‘Nyoho’ and ‘Toyonoka’ the numbers of  fruit were 
greatly reduced at 30/25°C when compared to 23/18°C 
(Ledesma et al., 2008).When the day-time and night-time 
effects were investigated, fruit size was smaller under day-

time temperatures over 15-17°C and largest at 12°C night 
temperature. (Went, 1957; Sato & Hiraoka, 1971)
Sweet Sensation’ is a new strawberry cultivar released 
from the University of  Florida in 2013, commonly known 
as ’Florida 127’ in US and Canada originally evaluated as 
breeding selection FL 09-127. ‘Florida127’ originated 
from a 2009 cross between WinterStar™ ‘FL 05-107’ 
(female parent) and unreleased breeding selection FL 02-
58 (male parent) (Whitaker et al., 2017).
‘Florida Fortuna’’  a strawberry variety released by US is 
known as ‘Florida Radiance’ in US and Canada released 
from UF/IFAS in 2008 (Chandler et al. 2009) originated 
from a 2001 cross between ‘Winter Dawn’ (female parent), 
a 2005 release from the UF/IFAS breeding program, and 
FL 99-35 (male parent) (Whitaker et al., 2019).  
‘Florida Beauty’ (PPAF) is a new strawberry cultivar 
released by the University of  Florida and commercialized 
in 2017. This cultivar was originally evaluated as breeding 
selection FL 12.121-5. ‘Florida Beauty’ originated from a 
2012 cross between Queensland Australia selection 2010- 
119 (female parent) and ‘Florida Radiance’ (male parent) 
(Whitaker et al., 2017a).
‘Florida127’ is a short-day plant adapted to annual, winter 
plasticulture growing systems. The plant is moderately 
compact, robust, and upright with long pedicels, making 
the fruit easy to harvest producing conic to broad-conic 
fruit that are uniform in shape throughout the season, 
resulting in few non-marketable fruit (Whitaker et al., 
2017). 
‘‘Florida Fortuna’’ produces conic to long-conic fruit 
that are very large, uniform, glossy, and evenly coloured. 
‘Florida Fortuna’’ has a weak plant habit and can benefit 
from extra chilling hours in the nursery. While it requires 
little chilling to initiate flower buds compared to typical 
short-day cultivars, increased chilling may be important to 
increase production (Whitaker et al., 2019).
Whitaker et al. (2017) stated that Florida Fortuna’ fruit 
size is larger than the other cultivars late in the season. 
The fruit has a moderate acid content with a balanced 
flavor and is generally the juiciest of  the UF/IFAS 
cultivars. Both early season and late-season yields of  
‘Florida Fortuna’ in Florida have been higher than any 
other UF/IFAS cultivar in most seasons. In an experiment 
conducted in Queensland to compare varieties
‘Florida Beauty’ cultivar has excellent fruit quality, 
with flavour often similar to ‘Sweet Sensation’ and 
sufficient quality to be marketed at retail under the 
‘Sweet Sensation’® brand. Early and total season yields 
of  ‘Florida Beauty’ have been very similar to ‘Florida 
Fortuna’ for early planting dates around Sept 25. When 
planted early in the planting period, no overly elongated 
fruit have been observed in contrast to ‘Florida Fortuna’, 
which can produce elongated fruit in the early season. 
When planted at later dates around Oct 10, ‘Florida 
Beauty’ has had lower yields than ‘Florida Fortuna’ due 
to its more compact plant size (Whitaker et al., 2017a).
Whitaker et al. (2017) stated that Fruit size of  ‘Sweet 
Sensation’ is very large, exceeding that of  ‘Florida 

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Fortuna’ on average over the course of  the season. 
Fruit firmness is slightly greater than that of  ‘Florida 
Fortuna’, with excellent shelf  life. Average fruit weight 
of  ‘Sweet Sensation’ Florida Fortuna and ‘Florida Beauty’ 
is 35-45 gm, 30-40 gm and 27-37 gm respectively as 
recorded in U.S. Plant Patent (United States Patent No. 
USOOPP20363P2, 2009; United States Patent No. 
US 20140359905P1, 2014; United States Patent No. 
USOOPP30385P3, 2019)
In an experiment conducted to compare 3 varieties of  
strawberry average marketable yield of  803.6 gm per 
plant was recorded with ‘Sweet Sensation’ being at par 
with ‘Florida Fortuna’ i.e. 749.7 gm per plant and lowest 
yield was recorded with ‘Florida Beauty’ i.e. 601.3 gm per 
plant with average weight per fruit being 30.8 gm, 25.0 
gm and 22.3 gm respectively (Whitaker et al., 2015).
In an experiment in university of  Florida it was recorded 
the pH of  Florida Fortuna was 3.6 and that of  ‘Sweet 
Sensation’ was 3.7. But ‘Sweet Sensation’ was superior for 
sweetness compared to ‘Florida Fortuna’ with total soluble 
solid content 7.5 % and 5.3 % respectively (Whitaker et 
al., 2015). It is estimated that the picking interval should 
be one day longer for ‘Sweet Sensation’ than for ‘Florida 
Fortuna’ at most points during the season. The ripe 
fruit of  ‘Florida127’ have excellent flavour and aroma. 
Soluble solids contents of  ‘Sweet Sensation’ fruit were 
significantly higher than those of  ‘Florida Fortuna’ on six 
of  seven harvest dates tested. Titratable acidity was not 
significantly different from ‘Florida Fortuna. Significant 

difference in TSS/TA ratio was observed in variety ‘Sweet 
Sensation’ and ‘Florida Fortuna’ with ratio being 10.8 and 
6.4 respectively (Whitaker et al., 2015).

METHODS
Treatment details 
Different low chilling strawberry varieties and two 
locations were considered as factors in combination. 
Therefore, there were two different factors in this 
research which are shown below. 
Factor 1: Location 
The experiment was conducted in two locations to 
evaluate the performance of  strawberry in different 
ecological zones. Two ecological regions Biratnagar and 
Dharan were selected to conduct the varietal research trial 
on strawberry.
Biratnagar
The city is located in the Morang District of  province 1 
has a total area of  77.5 km². The geographical location 
is 26°28’60”N 87°16’60”E. In Biratnagar, the average 
annual temperature is 24.3 °C. The rainfall here averages 
1898 mm. 
Dharan
The city is located in the Sunsari District of  province 1 has 
a total area of  192.61 km². The geographical location is 
26°49’0”N 87°17’0”E. The city experiences sub-tropical 
climate situated at altitude of  349 masl. In Dharan, the 
average annual temperature is 23.2 °C. The rainfall here 
averages 1799 mm.

Figure 1. Average weather data of  Biratnagar and Dharan 
from November 2018 to May 2019
Factor 2: Variety (V)
Five low chilling strawberry varieties were used to evaluate 
their relative performance. The varieties used were
V1 = Florida Beauty
V2 = Sweet Sensation 
V3 = Fortuna
V4 = EMCO 32
V5 = EMCO 33
Experimental design
The field was laid out in Randomised Block Design 
(RCBD) with 4 replications in both locations.
Layout of  field 

The field was laid out in Randomized complete block 
design (RCBD) design with 4 replications and 5 varietal 
treatment in each location. The area of  experimental field 
was 297 m 2 with length and breadth of  main field 45 
m× 6.6 m respectively. Distance between replications was 
maintained at 1 m and treatments were laid 50 cm apart. 
With spacing of  38 cm × 28 cm (RR× PP), 52 plants per 
plot were maintained. 
Planting techniques
Strawberries were planted in a raised bed with double 
row system. Following schematic diagram was followed 
for raised bed system.
Planting material and Planting 
Bare root strawberry transplants were used as planting 

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material. The bare root strawberry transplants were 
transplanted in raised plastic- mulched beds at spacing of  
38 cm ×28 cm. Planting was done on Nov 13, 2018.One 
week of  overhead sprinkler irrigation was provided for 
one week to ensure plant establishment. 
Parameters studied
Various yield and quality parameters of  randomly selected 
and properly tagged sample plants were evaluated
Fruit yield parameters
Fruit set percentage (%), Number of  fruit per plant, 
Number of  fruits per plot, Number of  marketable plot, 
Marketable yield per plot (grams) and Fruit yield per plot 

(grams) were recorded 
Fruit quality parameters
Total Soluble Solids (TSS), pH of  strawberry, Titrable 
acidity (%), Ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) content (mg/100g)
Data analysis
All data recorded were processed using Microsoft Excel. 
Statistical analysis and relation among treatments was 
established for the selected parameters with reference to 
Gomez and Gomez, 1984.  Different statistical tools as 
R and EXCEL were used for the analysis of  variance, 
DMRT test and other data analysis as required.

Figure 2. Double row system of  strawberry planting

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Phenological characters
Table 1. Phenological characters of  strawberry (Fragaria 
ananassa) as influenced by varieties and different locations 
of  Nepal in 2018/2019.
Effect of  location on phenological characters 
Phenological characters of  different varieties of  
strawberry as influenced by location is presented in table 
1. Days to First flowering, Number of  flowers per plant, 

fruit set % and number of  fruits per plant are found 
significantly different statistically at different locations.
Earlier flowering (14.52 DAT) , higher number of  flowers 
per plant (13.79) was observed in Biratnagar being 
statistically different to days to first flowering (16.11 
DAT) and number of  flowers per plant in Dharan (10.76). 
However fruit set percentage is found significantly higher 
in Dharan (89.48 %) compared to Biratnagar (70.82 %).
No significant effect was seen regarding number of  
fruits per plant which might be due to low fruit set % 
in Biratnagar though higher number of  flowers were 

Table 1: Phenological characters of  strawberry (Fragaria ananassa) as influenced by varieties and different locations 
of  Nepal in 2018/2019.

Treatments
Phenological Characters

Days to first flowering Number of  flowers per 
plant

Number of  fruits per plant Fruit set %

Location (Factor A)
Dharan 16.11a 10.76b 10.06 89.48a

Biratnagar 14.52b 13.79a 9.64 70.82b

Grand Mean 15.31 12.28 9.85 80.15
SEM 1.53** 2.46*** 1.12ns 8.60***

LSD 1.28 2.24 1.02 7.78
CV 29.87 28.49 16.12 15.17
Variety (Factor B) 
EMCO33 10.83c 16.90a 11.60ab 88.37a

Sensation 22.62a 8.43d 6.10d 64.46c

Florida Beauty 13.61b 12.09bc 10.39b 73.63bc

EMCO32 7.91d 14.10b 12.60a 88.92a

Fortuna 21.6a 9.85cd 8.57c 85.39ab

Grand Mean 15.31 12.28 9.85 80.15
SEM 1.78*** 1.66*** 1.12*** 8.80***

LSD 2.56 2.38 1.61 12.62
CV 16.47 19.15 16.12 15.51
Means with same letter within column do not differ significantly at p= 0.05 by DMRT. NS- Non –significant, 
SEM- Standard error of  mean, LSD- Least significant difference, CV- Coefficient of  variance, DAT- Days After 
Transplanting

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obtained in Biratnagar.
Effect of  varieties on phenological characters
Effect of  variety on phenological characters of  strawberry 
plants is presented in table 1. Days to First flowering, 
Number of  flowers per plant, fruit set % and number 
of  fruits per plant are found significantly different 
statistically among different varieties.
Earlier flowering (7.91 DAT), higher fruit set (88.92 
%) and higher number of  fruits per plant (12.55)   was 

obtained in variety ‘EMCO 32’ whereas late flowering 
(22.62 DAT) , least fruit set percentage (64.46 %)  and 
least number of  fruits per plant (6.10)  was obtained in 
variety ‘Sweet Sensation’.
However highest number of  flowers per plant (16.90) 
were recorded in variety ‘EMCO 33’ whereas least number 
of  flowers per plant (8.43)  was obtained in variety ‘Sweet 
Sensation’ being statistically similar to variety ‘Florida 
Fortuna’ (9.85).

Table 2. Interaction effect on phenological characters of  strawberry (Fragaria ananassa) varieties at different locations 
of  Nepal in 2018/2019.

Treatments 
Phenological characters

Days to first flowering Number of  flowers per plant Number of  fruits 
per plant

Fruit set %

Location × variety interaction
Dharan.EMCO33 12.12f 14.31bc 13.22a 95.72a

Dharan.Sensation 26.65a 7.25f 6.9de 73.75d

Dharan.Beauty  11.97f 10.36de 9.43bc 93.89a

Dharan.EMCO32 6.60h 15.57b 12.01a 94.68a

Dharan.Fortuna 23.20b 9.24ef 8.67cd 89.37b

Biratnagar.EMCO33 9.55g 19.5a 9.99bc 51.54f

Biratnagar.Sensation 18.6d 9.62ef 5.29e 55.17e

Biratnagar.Beauty 15.25e 13.82bc 11.35ab 82.05c

Biratnagar.EMCO32 9.22g 16.27b 13.10a 83.95c

Biratnagar.Fortuna 20.00c 10.46de 8.48cd 81.40c

Grand Mean 15.31 12.28 9.85 80.15
SEM 0.64*** 1.18** 0.94*** 1.73***

LSD 1.30 2.42 1.90 3.53
CV 5.88 13.67 13.42 3.05
Means with same letter within column do not differ significantly at p= 0.05 by DMRT. NS- Non –significant, 
SEM- Standard error of  mean, LSD- Least significant difference, CV- Coefficient of  variance, DAT- Days After 
Transplanting
Interaction effect of  location and variety for 
phenological characters
Interaction effect of  location and variety on phenological 
characters of  strawberry plants is presented in Table 2. 
Days to First flowering, Number of  flowers per plant, 
fruit set % and number of  fruits per plant are found 
significantly different statistically among different 
varieties at different locations.
Earlier flowering (6.60 DAT) was obtained in Dharan 
with variety ‘EMCO 32’ followed by variety ‘EMCO 
32’ in Biratnagar (9.22 DAT) whereas late flowering 
(26.65 DAT) was obtained in Dharan with variety ‘Sweet 
Sensation’.
The result reveals that although in overall performance 
there is late flowering in Dharan but still from interaction 
effect it is evident that earlier flowering variety ‘EMCO 
32’ performs better in Dharan. 
Significantly higher number of  flowers per plant (19.50) 
was recorded in Biratnagar with variety ‘EMCO 33’ 
followed by variety ‘EMCO 32’ in Biratnagar (16.27) 
whereas least number of  flowers (7.25) were obtained in 

Dharan with variety ‘Sweet Sensation’ being statistically 
similar to variety ‘Florida Fortuna’ in Dharan (9.24).
Significantly higher fruit set (95.72 %) was recorded in 
Dharan with variety ‘EMCO 33’ being statistically at 
par with variety ‘EMCO 32’ in Dharan  (94.68 %) and 
also with variety ‘Florida Beauty’ in Dharan (93.89 %) 
whereas least fruit set (51.54 %) percentage was recorded 
in variety ‘EMCO 33’ in Biratnagar  followed by variety 
‘Sweet Sensation’ in Biratnagar (55.17 %).
Significantly higher number of  fruits per plant (13.22) 
was recorded in  Dharan with variety ‘EMCO 33’ being 
statistically at par with variety ‘EMCO 32’ in Biratnagar 
(13.10) whereas least number of  fruits per plant (5.29 ) 
was recorded in Biratnagar with variety ‘Sweet Sensation’ 
followed by variety ‘Sweet Sensation’ in Dharan (6.9).
From results presented in table 1 and table 2 we can 
conclude that larger number of  flowers are obtained in 
Biratnagar with variety ‘EMCO 33’ but variety ‘EMCO 
32’ performed better than variety ‘EMCO 33’ in Dharan 
Interaction effect shows that for phenological characters 
variety ‘EMCO 33’ is more suitable for Dharan and 

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Table 3: Yield per plot of  strawberry (Fragaria ananassa) varieties as influenced by different locations of  Nepal in 
2018/2019.

Treatments
Yield per plot of  strawberry

Marketable Yield per plot (gm) Total Yield  per plot (gm)
Location (Factor A)
Dharan 4101.20 4720.75a

Biratnagar 2794.33 3244.81b

Grand Mean 3447.76 3982.78
SEM 935.47ns 1066.73***

LSD 1693.84 1931.50
CV 26.74 25.75
Variety (Factor B) 
EMCO33 6034.68a 6932.97a

Sensation 1558.25b 1848.25b

Florida Beauty 1541.25b 1831.12b

EMCO32 6844.64a 7828.32a

Fortuna 1260.00b 1473.25b

Grand Mean 3447.76 3982.78
SEM 384.23*** 446.85***

LSD 1103.12 1282.91
CV 31.52 31.73

Variety ‘EMCO 32’ is more suitable for Biratnagar. 
Earlier flowering in Biratnagar conditions contradicts 
with findings of  Kurian (2015), that earlier flowering was 
observed in high altitude. The favourable temperature and 
day condition, prevailing in Biratnagar may have influence 
on early flowering in Biratnagar. Earlier flowering in 
variety ‘EMCO 32’ might be attributed to its day neutral 
behaviour. Variability in flowering period in different 
varieties might also be due to differences in their chilling 
requirement as suggested by Joolka and Badiyala (1983)
Number of  leaves per plant, leaf  area and number of  
crowns per plant are positively correlated with number 

of  flowers per plant (Girijalba et al., 2015) which might 
be reason for higher number of  flowers in Dharan and in 
variety ‘EMCO 32’ and ‘EMCO 33’.
Variation in number of  fruits per plant might be due 
to differential fruitset  %  among varieties in different 
location. Lower fruit set % but higher number of  
flowers in Biratnagar conditions resulted in insignificant 
difference in number of  fruits per plant among locations.
The variation in fruit set %  may be due to genetic makeup 
of  the cultivars and adaptation to climatic condition (Jami 
et al., 2015).
Yield per plot

Effect of  location on Yield per plot
Yield per plot of  different varieties of  strawberry as 
influenced by location is presented in Table 3. Marketable 
yield per plot and in relation to location was found 
statistically insignificant whereas weight of  total yield per 
plot was found statistically significant. 
Significantly higher total yield was obtained in Dharan 
(4720.75 gm) compared to Biratnagar (3244.81 gm).
Effect of  Variety on yield per plot
Effect of  variety number of  fruits per plot of  strawberry 
plants is presented in Table 3.  Marketable yield per plot and 
yield per plot in relation to location are found significantly 
different statistically among different varieties. 
Highest marketable yield per plot (6844.64 gm) and 
highest total yield per plot (7828.32 gm) was recorded in 
variety ‘EMCO 32’ being statistically at par with variety 
‘EMCO 33’ for marketable yield (6034.68 gm) and total 
yield (6932.97 gm) per plot whereas least marketable 
yield per plot (1260.00 gm) and least total yield per plot 
(1473.25 gm) was obtained in variety ‘Florida Fortuna’ 
being statistically at par with variety ‘Sweet Sensation’ 

(1558.25 gm) 
Differences in survivability and yield per plant of  different 
varieties may be reason behind difference in number of  
fruits per plot of  strawberry.
Interaction effect of  location and variety on yield per 
plot
Interaction effect of  location and variety on number of  
fruits per plot of  strawberry plants is presented in Table 
4. Marketable yield per plot and total yield per plot are 
found significantly different statistically among different 
varieties at different locations. 
Higher marketable yield per plot (7976.00 gm) was 
recorded in Dharan with variety ‘EMCO 32’ being 
statistically at par with variety ‘EMCO 33’ (7116.75 gm) 
in Dharan.  Similarly in Biratnagar conditions also variety 
‘EMCO 32’ had highest marketable yield per plot (5713.28 
gm). Whereas least marketable yield per plot (682.00 gm) 
was obtained in Biratangar with variety ‘Florida Fortuna’.
Lowest unmarketable yield per plot (192.00 gm) was 
recorded in Biratnagar with variety ‘Florida Fortuna’ 
being statistically at par with variety ‘Florida Fortuna’ 

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(222.00 gm) in Dharan being statistically at par with 
variety ‘Sweet sensation’ (264.00 gm) in Dharan. Whereas 
highest unmarketable yield per plot (1243.25 gm) was 
obtained in Dharan with variety ‘EMCO 33’.
Higher total yield per plot (9068.75 gm) was recorded 
in Dharan with variety ‘EMCO 32’ being statistically at 
par with variety ‘EMCO 33’ (8360.00 gm) in Dharan.  
Similarly in Biratnagar conditions also variety ‘EMCO 32’ 
had highest total yield per plot (6587.90 gm). Whereas 
lowest total yield per plot (874.00 gm) was obtained in 

Biratangar with variety ‘Florida Fortuna’.
The result presented in table 16 and table 17 reveals 
that variety ‘EMCO 32’ followed by variety ‘EMCO 33’ 
performed best in both locations and Dharan conditions 
was more favourable for yield per plot. Also higher 
unmarketable yield per plot were related with higher total 
yield of  fruits. The differences for total yield per plot 
may be attributed to difference in plant survivability and 
number of  fruits per plot.
Effect of  location on fruit quality parameter

Table 4: Interaction effect on yield per plot of  strawberry (Fragaria ananassa) varieties at different locations of  Nepal 
in 2018/2019.

Treatments
Yield per plot of  strawberry

Marketable Yield per plot (gm) Total Yield  per plot (gm)
Location × variety interaction
Dharan.EMCO33 7116.75a 8360.00a

Dharan.Sensation 1786.50c 2050.50c

Dharan.Beauty  1788.75c 2052c

Dharan.EMCO32 7976.00a 9068.75a

Dharan.Fortuna 1838.00c 2072.50c

Biratnagar.EMCO33 4952.62b 5505.94b

Biratnagar.Sensation 1330.00c 1646.00c

Biratnagar.Beauty 1293.75c 1610.25c

Biratnagar.EMCO32 5713.28b 6587.90b

Biratnagar.Fortuna 682.00c 874.00c

Grand Mean 3447.76 3982.78
SEM 275.01* 314.36*

LSD 1123.28 1284.04
CV 22.56 22.32
CV 31.52 31.73
Means with same letter within column do not differ significantly at p= 0.05 by DMRT. NS- Non –significant, 
SEM- Standard error of  mean, LSD- Least significant difference, CV- Coefficient of  variance, DAT- Days After 
Transplanting
Significant difference between locations was recorded 
for quality parameters TA, pH and Vit-C content of  
fruits and no significant difference between locations for 
TSS was recorded , fruit quality parameter of  different 
varieties of  strawberry as influenced by location are 
presented in Table 5.
Significantly higher pH value (3.28) and TA content 
(0.85 % citric acid ) of  fruit was observed in Biratnagar 
compared to pH (3.17) and TA content (0.80 % citric 
acid) in Dharan 
Higher vitamin C content (68.22 mg/100gm) was 
recorded in Dharan being significantly different to 
Biratnagar (64.47 mg/100gm).
Effect of  varieties on fruit quality parameters 
Significant difference among varieties were recorded for 
quality parameters TSS content, pH, Vit- C content and 
TA of  fruits as presented in Table 5.
Highest pH value (3.48), highest TA content (0.90% citric 
acid), higher vitamin C content (71.89 mg/100 gm)was 
recorded in variety ‘EMCO 33’ whereas least pH value 
(3.07), least TA content (0.77 % citric acid) and least 

Vit-C content (59.75 mg/100gm)  was recorded in variety 
‘Sweet Sensation’, 
Highest TSS content (6.57 0B) was recorded in variety 
‘EMCO 32’ whereas least TSS content (5.6 oB) was 
recorded in variety ‘EMCO 33’. Variety ‘Sweet Sensation’ 
(6.12 oB) was found statistically at par with Variety 
‘Florida Beauty’ (6.150B) and ‘Florida Fortuna’ (6.12 0B).
Interaction effect of  location and variety on Fruit 
quality parameters
No significant effect of  interaction of  location and 
variety were recorded for quality parameters TSS content, 
pH, Vitamin - C content and TA of  fruits.
Above results reveal that variety ‘EMCO 32’ and ‘EMCO 
33’ were superior to other varieties as sweetness of  fruit 
is related with TSS and TA content of  fruit and variety 
‘EMCO 33’ had higher vitamin-C content. Thus variety 
‘EMCO 33’ is more preferable. Whitaker et al. (2015) 
and Kelly et al. (2016) also obtained similar results with 
physiochemical characters of  strawberry fruits. 
Higher TSS and ascorbic acid content of  fruit may 
be attributed to higher vegetative growth as enough 

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Table 5: Fruit quality parameters of  strawberry (Fragaria ananassa) varieties as influenced by different locations of  
Nepal in 2018/2019.

Treatments
Fruit quality parameters

pH TSS TA Vit-C
Location (Factor A)
Dharan 3.17b 6.04 0.80b 68.22a

Biratnagar 3.28a 6.19 0.85a 64.47b

Grand Mean 3.22 6.11 0.82 66.35
SEM 0.11*** 0.24ns 0.04*** 4.69**

LSD 0.10 0.21 0.03 4.1
CV 4.94 5.51 6.89 9.99
Variety (Factor B) 
EMCO33 3.48a 5.6c 0.90a 71.89a

Sensation 3.07c 6.12b 0.77b 59.75b

Florida Beauty 3.24b 6.15b 0.83b 67.22a

EMCO32 3.08c 6.57a 0.85b 60.99b

Fortuna 3.25b 6.12b 0.78c 71.89a

Grand Mean 3.22 6.11 0.82 66.35
SEM 0.06*** 0.10*** 0.03*** 3.25***

LSD 0.08 0.14 0.04 4.66
CV 2.44 2.35 4.89 6.91
photosynthate was available for sugar and acid 
accumulation (Singh et al., 2007). TSS content was 
observed by the treatment which may be due to favorable 
temperature and humidity especially in night during fruit 
growth and ripening period. The soluble solids content 
was more dependent on environmental condition during 
growth and development than genetic inheritance in 
strawberry (Shaw, 1990).
The possible explanation for lower acidity in Dharan may 
be due to difference between day and night temperature 
which are very narrow, whereas cooler nights and warmer 
days are helpful in synthesizing more acidity noticed by 
Wani et al. (2007). 
The oxygen concentration which is more in the lower 
altitude of  the earth caused oxidation of  more ascorbic 
acid, consequently fruits showed decreased ascorbic acid 
content in comparison to the fruits obtained and analyzed 
at higher altitude. In this support Klimczac and Stropek 
(1988) reported that strawberries grown at higher altitude 
have higher ascorbic acid content.

CONCLUSION
The experiment brought some important information on 
effect of  location and variety on Yield and fruit quality 
parameters of  strawberry.
For flowering and yield characters, variety ‘EMCO 32’ 
followed by ‘EMCO 33’ were superior both in Dharan 
and Biratnagar. But considering the overall production 
performance Dharan conditions were favourable than 
Biratnagar for given varieties. Fruit quality parameters 
are not of  major importance in Nepal but Considering 
fruit quality variety ‘EMCO 33’ was more preferable with 
higher TSS, TA, Vitamin C and pH content while variety 

‘EMCO 32’ had poor quality parameters and better 
quality fruits were obtained in Biratnagar.
Thus we can conclude that among the varieties under 
study ,variety ‘EMCO 33’ and ‘EMCO 32’ can successfully 
be cultivated in both locations and taking fruit quality 
parameters into consideration variety ‘EMCO 33’ is more 
preferable . However still more studies are required to 
assess the varietal performance and it would be premature 
to recommend suitable variety for given locations. 

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