Californian fruit specialists Sun World International has teamed up with Cornell University in a long-term grape research agreement.
The unique public-private venture aims to combine the two fresh grape breeders’ research strengths to make new varieties available to grape growers in the US and beyond.
Sun World chief marketing officer, David Marguleas, told freshinfo the partnership is a long-term strategy: “The breeding process is inherently lengthy - about ten years in duration from start to release - thus our collaborative research could result in new cultivars that reach the marketplace in about seven to ten years.
“Sun World develops a wide range of (red, white and black) seedless table grapes adapted largely for Mediterranean-type climates while Cornell develops a collection of table and wine grapes more suited for cold climates.
“Together, we hope to combine our strengths and produce new seedless table grape varieties that are suitable for various markets.
The two organisations will exchange plant material including pollen and cuttings and will visit each others’ program research sites annually. Both programmes will use conventional plant breeding methods and their genetic resources will be pooled as a common source of desirable traits such as size, early or late ripening, flavour, colour and disease resistance.
Marguleas said the research would benefit grape growers worldwide: “While Sun World, Cornell and others have independently developed many notable varieties, some of which are now grown worldwide, by combining our respective germ-plasm and collaborating, we increase the likelihood of success, combine attractive traits present in each program and aim for the development of new cultivars possessing beneficial qualities from each program.”
Professor Bruce Reisch, Cornell Grape Genetics, said: “This agreement follows nearly a decade of research co-operation between Cornell and Sun World and is likely to bring the global fruit industry many new types of grapes.
“In addition to supporting the aims of a public university and a private company, our combined research efforts and the new grape varieties we will develop together will benefit grape growers worldwide.”
Sun Wolrd has extensive global licensing for its fresh table grapes and will manage the US and international introduction of all new varieties produced from the combined research effort.
In addition to production on its own Californian vineyards and orchards, Sun World and its licensees grow the company’s proprietary varieties in North America, Europe, South America, Australia, the Middle East and South America.
Cornell’s 120-year old grape-breeding program has made renowned, significant and outstanding achievements in developing grape cultivators for wine, juice and fresh fruit production. Previous grape cultivators from the Cornell programme include Einset Seedless and Marquis.
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