Irish researchers have developed a strawberry which they say is impervious to the notoriously damp Irish climate and conditions that make fruit production throughout northern Europe so difficult.
The director of the State-sponsored Soft Fruit and BeeKeeping Research Centre, Mr Finnain MacNaeidhe, said he was confident the new variety, which has taken some 15 years to develop, would prove commercially viable after further trials here and abroad.
"It's a breakthrough. This new variety is resistant to wet weather and all the common diseases such as phylopthora [root rot] that go with it," Mr MacNaeidhe added.
He said the new strawberry, which has been code-named CL380, was also capable of sustained yields over four years or more.
It would effectively halve the cost of production for strawberry farmers in the Republic and elsewhere, he predicted.
"Most standard varieties yield on average some 10 tonnes per hectare for a couple of years and then fade rapidly. Our strawberry yields 16 tonnes per hectare for four years or more," he confirmed.
The CL380 will undergo further tests in England before being sent for growth trials throughout Britain and in France.
He hoped the variety would be ready for commercial launch by next summer and expected strong demand from growers across northern Europe.