Strawberry Commission and UC Davis settle lawsuit

The California Strawberry Commission and the University of California, Davis, have signed an agreement on the public strawberry breeding program at UC Davis, bringing an end to more than a year of litigation.

The settlement, reached this week, closes legal disagreements dating back to October 2013, when the commission filed a lawsuit against the university related to the strawberry breeding program's research agreement with the commission. Both that lawsuit and the university's counter suit, filed in October 2014, are ended by this settlement.

As part of the legal settlement, a new strawberry advisory committee will be formed, comprising university representatives, strawberry farmers and commission representatives.

Highlights of the legal settlement include further partnership opportunities for the UC Davis Strawberry Breeding Program and the California Strawberry Commission.

UC Davis has also hired a new breeder for the breeding program, which creates new varieties for the state's strawberry farmers.

"The hiring of the new plant breeder and the commitment to continue the public program were critical to resolving the dispute," said Rick Tomlinson, president of the commission.

Steven Knapp, a plant scientist with teaching and research experience at two other U.S. land-grant universities as well as international plant genomics experience in the commercial sector, has accepted the university's offer to lead the program.

Over the next five years, UC Davis will release new strawberry varieties that will be available to all farmers, and the commission will assist UC Davis in its identification of new commercial varieties.

"I am very pleased to see UC Davis and the California Strawberry Commission move into a new era of collaboration," said Karen Ross, secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture. "With a talented new plant breeder to lead the program, the commitment of the chancellor and the dean, and an industry advisory committee to provide input on the program's vision, we have all the ingredients for a partnership that will benefit the California strawberry industry and the university for years to come."

Knapp served on the faculty of Oregon State University in the Department of Crop and Soil Science for 19 years from 1985, and then joined the faculty of the University of Georgia, Athens, in the Institute of Plant Breeding Genetics and Genomics for five years.

He comes to UC Davis most recently from Monsanto's Vegetable Research and Development program in Woodland. At Monsanto, he was the global director for two years for breeding of cucurbit crops including melons, squash and cucumbers, and then the global director for vegetable breeding technology for three years.

"The strawberry industry and production climates in California are unparalleled," Knapp said. "I look forward to serving as an ambassador for the public breeding program on behalf of the university and state, and working with leaders from industry and academia, as well as stakeholders and colleagues throughout California and abroad to tackle scientific challenges in strawberry production, breeding, genetics and genomics."

Since 1956, California's strawberry farmers have supported the UC Davis Strawberry Breeding Program through the California Strawberry Commission. Annual contributions and research grants through the commission have contributed millions of dollars to support the development of strawberry varieties uniquely adapted to California's exceptional growing environment.

The University of California has been breeding strawberries and then releasing cultivated varieties to the agricultural industry since the 1930s. The program was terminated during World War II and then restarted at UC Davis in 1952 at the request of California's strawberry farmers, who have financially supported the program every year since 1956.

The breeding program has developed new, commercially useful varieties of strawberry plants that have higher quality berries, are less vulnerable to pests and diseases, and can be grown more efficiently.

Due in large part to the development of these new varieties, average strawberry yields have grown from 6 tons per acre in the 1950s to 30 tons per acre today, and the berries now grown on California farms are tastier, longer-lasting, and more resistant to pests and disease, according to university and commission officials.