Key Takeaways:
- Heritable Agriculture, CIV, and Paul J. Mastronardi have announced a joint initiative to develop new strawberry varieties optimized for greenhouse and tabletop farming.
- The program combines CIV’s germplasm resources, Heritable Agriculture’s AI breeding models, and Mastronardi’s commercial production experience.
- The initiative focuses on improving key traits such as yield, flavor, and disease resistance under controlled environment conditions.
- Heritable’s technology aims to shorten breeding cycles through simulation and predictive analytics.
- The partnership targets improved variety development for both growers and retailers in the greenhouse strawberry market.
Heritable Agriculture Partners on AI-Enabled Strawberry Breeding Program for Indoor Cultivation
Heritable Agriculture, Consorzio Italiano Vivaisti (CIV), and greenhouse grower Paul J. Mastronardi have announced a collaborative strawberry breeding initiative focused on developing varieties suited for indoor and tabletop growing systems. The partnership brings together genetic resources, AI-driven predictive modeling, and commercial production expertise.
The collaboration aims to address the specific needs of controlled environment agriculture by improving the speed and precision of breeding programs.
Applying Heritable Agriculture’s AI Technology to Greenhouse Variety Development
Optimizing Traits for Indoor Farming
Traditional breeding processes in strawberries can span multiple years and are often geared toward field-grown crops. This partnership will apply Heritable Agriculture’s AI-based breeding platform to simulate performance outcomes before field trials begin, with the goal of improving:
- Crop uniformity
- Taste and appearance
- Resistance to diseases
- Productivity in indoor settings
According to the partners, the initiative is designed to support greenhouse growers with tailored genetics that reflect the environmental and operational differences between indoor and outdoor production.
Collaborative Approach Combining Genetics, Data Science, and Production
Role of Each Partner in the Initiative
- CIV brings four decades of breeding experience and a collection of germplasm developed through its European and North American programs.
- Heritable Agriculture contributes computational models that integrate multi-omic data to forecast trait outcomes and reduce breeding timelines.
- Paul J. Mastronardi offers production infrastructure and commercial insights from operating within the greenhouse fruit and vegetable sector.
The project is structured to incorporate feedback from both breeding and production stages to support practical implementation.
Potential Expansion Beyond Strawberries With Heritable Agriculture’s Platform
While the current focus is on strawberries, Heritable Agriculture’s AI platform is designed to be adaptable to other crops, including tomatoes, spinach, and peppers. The company notes that its modeling technology is capable of generalizing across different traits and species, which may support future diversification efforts.
Research and Industry Collaboration
Academic and industry stakeholders are also engaged in the initiative. Professor Bruno Mezzetti of Marche Polytechnic University noted that combining traditional breeding with AI tools may offer an opportunity to evaluate the impact of technology on varietal development and commercial sustainability.
“The recent synergy between Heritable, CIV, and Paul J. Mastronardi represents a model for how advanced technologies may be applied to modern breeding efforts,” Mezzetti said.
