ZESPRI releases final numbers for new variety uptake

Grower interest in the two gold varieties in particular was overwhelming and growers who bid for the undersubscribed Green14 variety were contacted by ZESPRI over the past couple of weeks to see if they were interested in additional hectares.

In total, ZESPRI received 817 applications for 1800ha of new variety licences. With the additional 50ha of Gold9 released by ZESPRI, 200ha of Gold3, 250ha of Gold9 and 150ha of Green14 will be grafted or planted this year. The next potential licence application opportunity will be in 2011.

Of ZESPRI's 2700 New Zealand growers, 556 have received licences to grow ZESPRI's new kiwifruit varieties and 773 are growing ZESPRI® GOLD Kiwifruit – leading the world in embracing and adopting innovative new kiwifruit varieties.

ZESPRI Chief Executive, Lain Jager, said the industry's input into new variety commercialisation and licence allocation decisions had been valuable.

"The strong collaboration and communication across the New Zealand kiwifruit industry is one of the reasons we, as an industry, are so successful. Grower debate and discussion is a crucial part of ensuring we are getting it right," he said.

ZESPRI's kiwifruit breeding programme with Plant & Food Research is the world's largest and most advanced, and will deliver substantial new variety opportunities for growers in the future.

Key points:

- ZESPRI received 817 applications for 1800ha of new variety licences
- ZESPRI has approved 600ha of new variety licences for grafting/planting this year
- 200ha of Gold3
- 250ha of Gold9
- 150ha of Green14
- 556 ZESPRI growers growing new varieties
- 773 ZESPRI growers growing ZESPRI GOLD
- ZESPRI's kiwifruit breeding programme with Plant & Food Research is the world largest and most advanced and will deliver substantial new variety opportunities for growers in the future