The late season mandarin is well known for its sweet flavour and seedless characteristics under all growing conditions. It is also pollen sterile which means it will not cause seeds in neighbouring plantings. These traits differentiate Tang-gold from the afourer variety. "The Tang-gold mandarin is highly productive and has exceptional flavour," states Matthew Cottrell, General Manager at Nu Leaf IP. "Around 50,000 trees have already been planted in Australia and that number will more than quadruple in the next few years." The oldest Tang-gold trees in Australia are now approaching 5 years old.
The Tango gold variety will be ready to harvest in July
Tang-gold mandarins will be represented in the domestic and overseas markets by a number of licensed marketers. Freshmax Australia, Global Produce Solutions and Fruitico are all excited to be involved in bringing Tang-gold to market, “Consumers have made their preference known and we aim to deliver what they are asking for,” says Matthew.
In keeping with market trends, once volumes of tang-gold are high enough, the aim will be to also send them to European, US and Asian markets.
Competing varieties
The grant of PBR in the Tang-gold variety in Australia gives the variety owner the exclusive right to produce or otherwise deal in propagating material of the Tang-gold variety and, in certain circumstances, any other variety that is not clearly distinguishable from Tang-gold. Nu Leaf IP have become aware of other competing varieties of similar heritage developed using similar techniques to Tang-gold in the Australian marketplace. As the exclusive licensee for the variety in Australia, Nu Leaf IP will be vigilant in enforcing the PBR in the Tang-gold variety in Australia and advises growers to take a cautionary approach when considering varieties and making costly long-term planting decisions.
Other varieties
Daisy SL
Nu Leaf IP certainly have their sites set on Seedless mandarins. The Gold Nugget mandarin is already in commercial production in Australia and New Zealand. This will be followed by two new varieties, the Daisy SL and Kinnow LS, which will be released from quarantine later this year. All of the varieties were developed by the University of California, Riverside, are seedless or very low in seed content and have exceptional eating qualities.
For more information:
Matthew Cottrell
Nu Leaf
Tel: +61 438 594 010
Email: matthew@nuleafip.com