Chilean apple growers will soon have two new varieties at their disposal. Production of Galaval and Jugala, both spontaneous mutants of the Gala variety, is already underway and the first commercial volumes will be available from next year.
Luis Fernández of ANA Chile presented the new cultivars at the annual grower convention Fruittrade 2013, held recently in Santiago. He explained the first of the two varieties, Galaval, had an exceptional colour level which makes it ideal for cultivation in regions where achieving uniform coloration was difficult as it guaranteed a high packout. The second, Jugala, produces larger sized fruit and reaches maturity five to seven days earlier than other Galas, enabling growers to extend their harvesting window Fernández said.
He added that both cultivars were likely to have a high level of acceptance by consumers as they were clones of the existing Gala variety.
