Bigger, Sweeter, Juicier Oranges And Lemons

The State’s best oranges and lemons are heading towards supermarkets and greengrocers as researchers work on determining the best citrus varieties for Australian conditions.

The NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, along with the Western Autralian Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development are working with Hort Innovation, the grower-owned, not-for-profit horticulture research and development corporation, to ensure growers are getting the most out of their citrus trees and consumers are getting the best possible products.

With more than 60 new varieties of oranges, mandarins, lemons, limes and grapefruit having been developed around the world recently - focusing on taste, number of seeds, how easy they are to peel, and growing season length - researchers will evaluate whether these citrus varieties are suitable for Australian conditions.

All of these varieties have the potential to be the next citrus variety introduced supermarkets and local fruit stores.

This $1.97 million research project is funded by Hort Innovation, using the Citrus research and development levy, contributions from the Australian Government and co-investment from NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development.

The programme is being led by the NSW Department, with work being undertaken from the Dareton Primary Industries Institute in the Sunraysia district of southwestern NSW.

There are also trial sites in Harvey, Manjimup and Gingin in Western Australia.

Since 1995 the researchers have independently evaluated 100 citrus varieties using more than a dozen rootstocks.

This research has provided robust field performance and fruit quality data to help growers determine which variety has the best market potential ensuring growers get the most out of their citrus trees.

Hort Innovation general manager and production and sustainability, Dr Anthony Kachenko said the independent assessment of citrus varieties looked at key performance data including fruit quality, tree yield and fruit size and sweetness, as well as assessing any issues producers might need to consider when growing the trees.

• Topics:

• Agriculture