**1. Introduction**

Strawberry (*Fragaria* x *ananassa*) is among the most appreciated fruit species due to its extraordinary appearance, shiny red color, sweet-sour balanced taste, and complex rich aroma. Most of the cultivars belong to the 'June-bearing' group, the floral induction of which is sensitive to short days (SD) and low temperature. In regions of a temperate climate, fruit production takes place during spring and early summer.

#### **Figure 1.**

*A typical scenario of the dynamic strawberry marketing season in Israel, referring to produce quantities (red) vs. prices at the farm gate (blue) during mid-November to late April (values represent averages of 10 years of data, provided by the Plant Production & Marketing Board of Israel).*

However, substantial demands for 'off-season' strawberries have triggered significant efforts to deliver the fruit as early as possible. Mediterranean climate regions harbor great potential for early season strawberry production; while the photoperiod noticeably changes with the seasons, the winter can be mild enough to allow plant growth. Californian breeding programs of short-day cultivars, and the development of plastic tunnels practices enabled the delivery of strawberry fruit to the markets already in early March.

Nevertheless, the exceptionally high produce prices at the very beginning of the marketing season, as clearly demonstrated in **Figure 1**, have promoted further research and development efforts aiming at strawberry marketing earlier than before. In Israel, during the recent 15 years, high-quality strawberries are available for export and local markets already in mid-November. The initial produce prices are extremely high, about 12 € kg−1; they drop with the increasing production to a high level of 7–8 € kg−1 during December–January, and drop again to about 3 € kg−1 for the rest of the season, when the production peaks or the quality degrades (**Figure 1**). These achievements are primarily founded on continuous breeding programs that took place since 1980s at ARO (and later on, also by private breeders), and on consistent efforts carried out at regional R&D centers (Darom, Ramat Negev, and Central & Northern Arava) aiming to develop innovative technologies and practices that support, altogether, significantly higher yields, higher and safe fruit quality, and easier labor work. Most of the results have been published in Hebrew in annual reports of each R&D center. In this chapter, we gather the most up-to-date information, describe and discuss the principles and practices that have led to the successful early strawberry production in Israel, and illustrate lines for possible future progress of this culture.

*Winter Strawberries Production in Greenhouse Soilless Culture under an Arid Climate… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.104390*
