I had to insist a little to tell his story. “Who will it interest? The Gariguette, like me, is starting to get old,” jokes Georgette Risser. Let's be precise, the fruit is 48 years old, she is 91. Don't think that the retired scientist sweetens the strawberries. With a clear mind and precise words, the former agricultural engineer knows what she wants and what she doesn't want. In this case, we will not be able to take a photo of it. “At my age, I’m no longer suitable for going out,” she says.
The general public does not know it, but the success story of the gariguette strawberry begins with its inventor, this genetics researcher proud to have worked at INRA, the National Institute for Agricultural Research, her entire career. “We don’t say inventor,” she corrects. It's as if you had invented your children, we can only say that you participated in their existence. » Except that selecting a new variety of fruit is a bit more complex than making babies.
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