Year-round strawberry production system in Hokkaido, the Northernmost region of Japan

In Hokkaido, strawberry harvest time is mainly in spring, and the winter is cold. It is a traditional strawberry culture but this has decreased very much in the other regions of Japan. In the 1990s, summer-autumn harvest culture using everbearing strawberries was introduced to Hokkaido because the climate is cool in summer. Forced culture was also introduced in the early 2000s because the market required local strawberry supply during the winter. In the Toyoura area, the strawberries have been produced and shipped between late April and early July by spring harvest culture, from late June to mid-November by summer-autumn harvest culture with everbearers, and from mid-October to late July by forced culture. Around 25% of the production volume is by the spring harvest culture, 10% is by the summer-autumn harvest culture, and the remainder is by the forced culture. In the Frano area, the strawberry farmers have also harvested and shipped throughout the year by using summer-autumn harvest culture from early June to mid-November, and by forced culture from early November to early July. In the production volume, the percentage of summer-autumn harvest culture is about 60% and the forced culture is 40%. The major cultivars used in the forced culture are 'Sagahonoka' and 'Tochiotome' which were bred in the warmer region of Japan and have a short dormant period. On the other hand, the cultivar for the spring harvest culture is 'Kentaro', which was released in Hokkaido and has a relatively long dormant period. Hokkaido does not have a very large share of the Japanese strawberry market but it is one of the few regions to harvest strawberries throughout the year. This is because the farmers can grow the berries by the combination of spring harvest culture, summer-autumn harvest culture with everbearers and forced culture.