US scientists have come up with a new variety of asparagus that could see vegetable become more profitable.
The DePaoli hybrid, named after the first manager of the California Asparagus Commission who initially nurtured the breeding program, is a high-yield variety that offers a larger number of marketable spears per crop.
It is the third time scientists at the University of California have come up with a new variety of vegetable. Their latest offering was developed using parent varieties with good spear size and quality, large yield and high disease tolerance.
While it has been trialing the variety since 1990, the team said it is still testing it against weather and diseases that only occur occasionally. As such it will be several years before any significant commercial volume is available. In the meantime, further efforts are being put into developing even more superior varieties.
When available, it is hoped DePaoli’s high yields will enable producers to compete with countries producing at low costs such as Peru and Mexico.
