Zespri has announced the final licence allocations for its new varieties this year, issuing licences for 200ha of the early Gold3, 250ha for the long-storing Gold9 and 150ha for the sweet and early Green14.
Grower interest in the two new gold varieties was significantly higher than the number of licences on offer, but applications for its new green variety were lower than expected.
“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,” the company said in a statement.
New Zealand has 2,700 kiwifruit growers, of which 556 have received licences to grow Zespri’s new varieties.
That compares to the 773 growers with licences to produce the company’s Zespri Gold (Hort16A) variety released in 1999.
