Farming With Google X
Bloomberg Businessweek US|November 21 - 28, 2022 (Double Issue)
The company’s famous moonshot laboratory tackles the challenges of strawberry cultivation
Max Chafkin
Farming With Google X

When Deb Menicos walks a strawberry field, she doesn’t look at just the berries. Menicos, who holds a doctorate in plant breeding from Ohio State University and works as a senior scientist at Driscoll’s Inc., will often find herself counting leaves and examining the small stalks protruding from the base of the plant. These parts, known as trusses, are important because they’re where the flowers and berries grow. “We want a small plant, with compact leaves and trusses poking out—not too long, because we don’t want them to touch the dirt,” she says.

Developing a new berry variety at Driscoll’s takes at least five years. It begins with a crop of 25,000 genetically distinct plants that grow in the company’s breeding field near its headquarters in Watsonville, California. Menicos and her colleagues winnow that down first to 250 plants, then clone them and replant them, narrowing the field until they have a winner.

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Denne historien er fra November 21 - 28, 2022 (Double Issue)-utgaven av Bloomberg Businessweek US.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

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