Performance assessment of strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.) cultivated in different hydroponic techniques

The present studies entitled, “Performance Assessment of Strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.) Cultivated in Different Hydroponic Techniques” were conducted during Rabi 2024-25 at Instructional Farm, Centre of Excellence for Vegetables, Agricultural Development Trust, Baramati, Maharashtra. The investigation aimed to evaluate the performance of strawberry in eight different hydroponic systems with respect to growth, flowering, yield and fruit quality traits. The experiment was laid out in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with three replication and eight treatments consisting of different hydroponic systems Viz. T1: Flat bed NFT, T2: A Frame NFT, T3: Deep Water Culture (DWC), T4: Dutch bucket Technique, T5: Aeroponics, T6: Growtower/Vertistack, T7: Trough method and T8: Control. The results demonstrated that, Growtower/Vertistack produced the maximum height plants (28.10 cm). However, the Dutch bucket system significantly outperformed in plant spread (36.72 cm N-S and 38.91 cm E-W), number of crowns per plant (6.39) and leaf area (139.34 cm²). Strawberry yield characteristics were also maximized in this system, the highest number of fruit per plant (25.19), fruit length (44.14 mm), fruit circumference (135.42 mm) and individual fruit weight (24.61 g). Flowering began earliest in Flat bed NFT (34.06 DAT), but the Dutch bucket system sustained the longest flowering duration (90.58 days) and produced the earliest harvest in Flat bed NFT (64.06 days). The Dutch bucket treatment delivered the maximum yield per plant (613.44 g), yield per m² (6.79 kg) and yield per hectare (67.90 t). Quality traits further favored the Dutch bucket system, which recorded superior fruit firmness (0.88 kg/cm²), total soluble solids (7.20 °Brix), reducing sugars (6.86 %) and shelf life (29.17 hours), along with the highest count of Extra Class fruits (4.66), although differences in ascorbic acid and individual sugar fractions were not statistically significant. Deep Water Culture performed poorly, likely due to insufficient root aeration. In conclusion, the Dutch bucket system emerged as the most effective hydroponic method for optimizing strawberry growth, yield and quality under controlled cultivation. While Aeroponics and the Trough method also demonstrated potential, further multi‑location and multi‑season trials are necessary to validate consistency and Scope.