Lassen Canyon Nursery

The Lassen Canyon Nursery (LCN) strawberry breeding program selects and evaluates short day and day neutral cultivars for the southern California fruit production region as well the extended season market area of Watsonville area.  With 5,000 hectares in production the Watsonville/Salinas strawberry area is the largest in California.  Fruit growers harvest strawberries from early April to mid-November. 

The LCN plant breeder, Mr. Jim Bagdasarian, brings to the program extensive experience in variety testing and evaluation.  He selects only those crosses which show a clear competitive advantage compared to established commercial varieties.  This strategy has enabled Mr. Bagdasarian to come into the market in a relatively short time with high yielding varieties whose fruit quality compares favorably to that of other California variety programs.

The LCN program has adopted the following selection criteria:

• High total yields
• Plant and nutrition management practices comparable to those utilized by established varieties
• Capacity to maintain fruit size throughout the extended harvest period
• High levels of disease resistance

Ekland Marketing Company is conducting variety trials of the LCN advanced selections in fruit production regions in the European Union, North Africa, Mexico and Central America and selected markets of South America. 

Lassen Canyon plant breeder, Jim Bagdasarian