The association bought the rights from the Citrus Marketing Board of Israel (CMBI) for varieties developed in Israel under the board's citrus variety breeding programme in the last few years.
Tal Amit, head of the CMBI breeding department, said that the deal involves easy peelers such as Or, Mor, Vinola, Nectar, Merav, Rishon, Yanuv and Shany. And CMBI general manager Mena Davidson added that the varieties will be planted along Chile's northern coastline. They are expected to begin bearing, 'within a few years', said Davidson.
The CMBI is close to reaching a similar agreement with Argentina and the board is also in negotiations with Uruguay, Peru and the Dominican Republic.
Once the deals are thrashed out, plantations growing Israeli varieties in Latin America will cover 5,000 hectares, said Davidson. According to the agreements, Israeli growers will receive royalties amounting to $25 a tonne for fruit marketed in addition to earning royalties of $0.50 for each planted plant. l
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