LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – White will soon be the dominant color in the strawberry farms in the valley once farmers decide to patronize the use of the Snow-White runners in the production of strawberries which is the favorite of visitors frequenting the valley.
The Chinese Snow White strawberry variety is being eyed by the municipal government and the strawberry farmers to possibly replace the Chuga and Sweet Charlie varieties which had been used by the strawberry farmers in the production of strawberries with pink as the dominant color of the fruit when ripened.
Mayor Romeo K. Salda said that the Snow White strawberry variety is currently undergoing runner production for distribution to the different strawberry farmers from the different parts of the valley in preparation for its mass production by the next planting season.
Initially, he claimed that some strawberry farmers have already tried planting the Snow White variety and its fruit is said to be much sweeter and juicier compared to the fruits of the Chuga and Sweet Charlie varieties which had been the ones used by farmers in the mass production of strawberries in the municipality through the past decades.
Further, the municipal chief executive revealed there were also some strawberry farmers who tried to cross-pollinate the Snow-White variety with the Chuga and Sweet Charlie varieties where white remained the dominant color with pink spots in the different parts of the fruit.
According to him, the Snow White variety will still undergo the required pest risk analysis to be undertaken by the agriculture department to ascertain this is free from any harmful pests that will affect the overall strawberry production in the municipality.
Mayor Salda is keeping his fingers crossed on the acceptability of the snow white variety among the residents and visitors as it will be a shift from the usual pink to white color with the same texture and shape that is why the municipal government will look into how it will be able to aggressively market the new strawberry variety when it will be rolled out with the thousands of farmers.
He explained that once the new strawberry variety will be given out to the farmers, the production of runners for the upcoming planting seasons will be prioritized to ensure the availability of runners that will be reproduced.
La Trinidad is in the Guinness Book of World Records after it was able to bake and present to the public the Largest Strawberry Shortcake in 2004.
Moreover, the town’s crowd drawing event is known as Strawberry Festival conducted every March or right after the month-long Panagbenga or flower festival in nearby Baguio City.
For this year, the mayor is optimistic that the face-to-face conduct of the strawberry festival will be allowed towards the gradual and safe revival of the heavily-impacted local economy because of the prevalence of the COVID-19 pandemic over the past 2 years so that concerned stakeholders can bring back vibrance of the local economy.