Researchers in South Africa have developed a new blush pear that could be on the market in small commercial volumes by 2014.
Cheeky was bred by the Agriculture Research Council of South Africa in a process that began some eight years ago. It is the result of a cross of undisclosed varieties that were themselves crosses and selected for specific taste and colour attributes.
The trademarked variety is available only under licence from Culdevco, the cultivar development company set up by the five grower-owned producers’ associations in South Africa.
Leon von Mollendorff, director of Culdevco, said: “We signed the exclusive licensing agreement three years ago. We will be in a position to release plant material to pear growers in South Africa in May 2009. At the moment, we are trying to propagate enough material for all the growers who are interested and by 2010, based on the orders we have, there should be 80-90 hectares of Cheeky in the ground.”
The director of the development company explained that it will be a further three to four years before there is any fruit in small commercial volumes. He said: “We are in negotiations with potential licensees in Europe and are trying to find the right growing conditions there to ensure that with northern hemisphere production, there will be a steady flow of Cheeky to the marketplace.”
The variety can be grown in relatively warm temperature areas and yet still achieve its blush colouring. The season starts at the end of January, some three weeks earlier than the mainstay of the South African blush pear offer, Forelle. The fruit can also be stored for 12 weeks satisfactorily.
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