Kiwifruit generic

Scientists at the University of Bologna are reportedly hoping to develop two new kiwifruit cultivars which will be resistant to Pseudomonas syringae pv actinidiae (Psa), the bacteria which has infected a significant proportion of the country's kiwiruit production in the past few years.

A team at the university's Agrarian Faculty led by Professor of general arboriculture and tree crops, Guglielmo Costa, is understood to be working to identify one green-fleshed and one yellow-fleshed cultivar that can withstand attack from the bacteria.

Speaking to Italian agricultural publication Terra e Vita, Professor Costa said the recent onslaught from Psa had prompted further interest interest in finding new kiwifruit types.

Despite the fact that Hayward still accounts for more than 90 per cent of commercial production worldwide, he said the need to find Psa-resistant cultivars could see new additions to an already expanding list of alternative products being trialed and grown in Italy, a list which already includes Zespri's various new yellow and green-fleshed varieties, Jin Tao (marketed as Jingold), Soreli, Summerkiwi 3373, Early Green, Green Light and Erika.

'In terms of varietal innovation, people are now talking about another cultivar of Actinidia chinensis, called Hong Yang or 'Red Sun', which is a red-fleshed variety from China,' Costa told Terra e Vita.

'It's not yet grown in Italy, because you need specific agreements in place to introduce material from China. But the University of Bologna has selections of red-fleshed Actinidia which we are looking at.'