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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Haven Daley

Strawberry farmer hopes steam holds the key to healthy soil and a better crop

Steam Farming - (Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Long-time strawberry farmer Rod Koda has rows of plants on his California farm that are still producing fruit well after the harvest would typically end.

The fields brimming with green near the Pacific Coast have produced nearly twice the amount of organic strawberries this year as other plots thanks to steam, he said. The bountiful plots were treated with steam before Koda planted his organic strawberries as part of a project aimed at finding an alternative to chemical fumigants used to kill soil-borne diseases and weeds.

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