EFFICIENCY OF LIGHT UTILIZATION IN THE STRAWBERRY (FRAGARIA-X-ANANASSA) CV HAPIL

Single crown plants of the strawberry cv. Hapil were grown under four levels of irradiance, (0, 25, 50 and 70% shading). The results showed that 'Hapil' behaves as a typical shade-tolerant plant. Light shading (25%) causes little change in plant morphology while heavier shade lev els lead to increases in leaf area index caused by an increase in spec ific leaf area (SLA). Estimates of the mean plant conversion coefficie nt B showed that it increased with increased shading. While part of th e increase in E can be explained by increases in SLA, changes in photo synthetic efficiency must also have occurred. The results are discusse d in relation to strawberry production systems.