Kent grower John Breach and French counterpart Bruno Essner told FPJ at the National Fruit Show that their four-year breeding partnership - Nuvar - is beginning to produce varieties with good commercial potential.
Nuvar is an international project involving amateur and professional breeders, commercial growers, and retailers, with the principal aim of promoting promising new varieties that may be of sufficient interest to the major retailers.
The initial concept is to grow the varieties commercially with smaller retailers and farm shops in mind, and for gardeners to plant for domestic use. Growers who have promising new varieties are encouraged to contact the Nuvar team for specialist advice on taking that variety onto the next level.
To date, said Breach, blushed-golden variety Golden Hills and a mid-season red type Freckles have been well received by customers in the UK, as well as the range of crab apples coming out of the project. And Chimene has shown good scab resistance and offers good growth potential.
“We have really just got this started,” he added. “It has been a case of treading water until now, and now we are waiting to see where these varieties will go now that we are getting enough fruit through. Growers are starting to tell us their preferences and once they have the fruit in their own orchards in larger volumes, we will start to see some real results.”
