After five years of research, scientists with Queensland's Department of Agriculture and Fisheries hope to release a Fusarium-resistant variety of strawberry for commercial use in the next 12 months.
News site abc.net.au reports that the Fusarium fungus has proved a significant threat to Australia's strawberry industry, which is worth more than $400 million a year.
The department's Michelle Paynter has spent the past five years working to cultivate Fusarium-resistant varieties of strawberries at the Maroochy Research Centre in Nambour.
"Since the phase-out of methyl bromide in 2005, we've seen an increase in strawberry disease worldwide," Ms Paynter said.
"It's happening in California at the moment and we've had problems in Australia as well.
"It infects the plants via the roots and then moves into the crown and vascular tissues, and blocks the uptake of water and nutrients, causing the plant to wilt.
"We have had up to 50 per cent losses, but we are trying to breed resistance into our new lines so that we can limit this damage."
Ms Paynter said research was critical to the future of the strawberry industry.
"Resistant cultivars are a very sustainable way of control management," she said.
Principal scientist Mark Herrington said any new strawberry variety would need to meet many more requirements than disease resistance.
"You want a new strawberry variety that tastes really good," he said.
"It needs to be able to transport well, it needs to be big enough to pick and market — there's about 20 traits that we consider in a strawberry.
"We have to plan five to 10 years ahead to defend the strawberry plants by developing resistances.
"I'm hoping a Fusarium-resistant variety can be commercialised in the next year, but you never know."
