Variety’s high yield and productive efficiency highlighted at launch event in Madrid
Luna, the first avocado variety launched by the Green Motion platform, made its European debut at an event organised by worldwide licence holder Eurosemillas at Fruit Attraction this week.
Visitors to the Eurosemillas stand heard how the first commercial volumes of the new variety, which is similar to Hass and suitable for high density planting, will be on the market before the end of this year.
Mary Lu Arpaia, head of the avocado improvement programme at the University of California Riverside (UCR), explained that despite being half the size of Hass trees, Luna trees are almost seven times more productive, with a yield of 1.6kg/m3 of canopy compared to 0.23kg/m3 for Hass.
During the event, Green Motion’s director, Javier Cano, highlighted the importance of strategic allies to bring innovation to the avocado sector. The platform is currently made up of 20 companies from 14 countries working across five continents.
Luna is the first variety launched by Green Motion, who plans to introduce three more avocados and five more rootstocks in the coming years in its bid to make avocado production more profitable and sustainable.
Málaga-based Viveros Blanco and Huelva’s Grajera Viveros are the two nurseries selected to carry out the task of multiplying the selections for the platform.
According to José María Fontán, director of innovation at Eurosemillas, Luna meets three key strategic objectives of the Green Motion platform: “To achieve greater productivity, facilitate management by reducing costs (for example in terms of pruning) and be more efficient in the use of water.”
