SOUTH AMERICA - T&G Global division VentureFruit® has announced a new partnership in an effort to develop hot climate apple and pear varieties with growers in South America. The company has appointed Andes New Varieties Administration Chile® (ANA Chile®) as the master licensee to support and manage all South American development activities for the program, starting with Chile.

“Our goal is to make the new hot climate tolerant varieties developed by the Hot Climate Partnership available to growers across the globe. We are excited to have ANA Chile join our global network of master licensees and look forward to working together to bring innovative apple and pear varieties to environments where it’s difficult for pipfruit to thrive due to climate conditions,” said Morgan Rogers, VentureFruit's General Manager.

ANA Chile was selected for this role due to its expertise in plant material, protection, evaluation, promotion, commercial administration, control of plantations, and surveillance of production, according to a release.

All interested parties, including growers, fresh produce sales and marketing companies, and plant nurseries based in South America can access the hot climate fruit varieties for testing and evaluations and submit their commercial interest in a variety via ANA Chile.

“With the world’s changing climate, it’s vital growers have access to innovative new varieties which have been specifically developed for hot and warming climates, and the Hot Climate Partnership is the world’s only apple and pear breeding program focused on this,” added Rogers. “We have an extensive pipeline of new varieties, which are currently in the final stages of evaluation and testing, and through our partnership with ANA Chile, we look forward to bringing these new varieties to South America.”

The Hot Climate Partnership unveiled the first hot climate apple variety to be commercialized from the breeding program under the brand name Tutti™ at the recent Berlin Fruit Logistica 2023.

“We’re looking forward to offering our pipfruit industry the opportunity to grow and test the effectiveness of these new varieties within Chile,” commented Luis Fernandez, ANA Chile’s General Manager. “A number of growers and fruit companies are already requesting to be licensed to start the evaluation of several promising genotypes recently introduced to Chile.”

VentureFruit is currently seeking a North American partner to support the development of hot climate varieties in 2023. Parties can register their interest by clicking here.

What new varieties will this partnership create? Keep a tab open to ANUK for answers.

T&G Global