Technology transfer will “exponentially improve” the yield and quality of avocado plant production
Chile’s Grupo Hijuelas hosted a visit from the University of Queensland’s Dr Chris O’Brien, marking the first step in a technology transfer for clonal avocado propagation for producers throughout Latin America.
It follows the announcement last September that Hijuelas has been awarded the exclusive license to propagate avocado in vitro or tissue culture across Latin America.
“I’m here training the staff so that the technology we created can be transferred to the majority of the industry and help with the propagation of clonal rootstocks, so that growers can access the best possible material,” O’Brien said.
During his visit, O’Brien shared with the Grupo Hijuelas’ in vitro lab team the techniques developed in Professor Neena Mitter’s laboratory in Australia for the clonal multiplication of four avocado varieties licensed to the company.
O’Brien described Grupo Hijuelas’ work as “top-notch”, adding that “the staff is very friendly and very skilled at what they do. They are learning, they are training; it’s a great laboratory and an ideal environment to apply this technology”.
The license to Grupo Hijuelas was granted by UniQuest, the commercialisation company that is part of the University of Queensland. Gaspar Goycoolea Vial, president of Grupo Hijuelas, said the world-beating technology would exponentially improve the yield and quality of avocado plant production in the region. “Among the most important benefits of tissue culture is that when you have the right variety, you can propagate it in large numbers and fully realise the potential of that genetics,” he said.
The University of Queensland and Grupo Hijuelas said their collaboration reinforces the importance of partnerships between academia and the private sector to drive agricultural innovation.
“This visit is just the beginning of a path of cooperation that seeks to strengthen the development of fruit growing in Latin America, with revolutionary techniques that will set the trend in the coming years,” said Juan Ignacio Goycoolea, CEO of Grupo Hijuelas.
