Such is the enthusiasm for the new apple cultivar, Bigbucks, marketed as Flash Gala™ apples, that new plantings are expected to reach a million trees in South Africa by the end of this year. According to the South African Plant Improvement Organisation (SAPO), it’s the quickest rate at which any new cultivar has ever expanded locally.
“Producers are very excited by the uniquely uniform colour, the exceptional genetic stability and the packouts exceeding 90%,” says Graeme Krige, technical advisor at the Two-a-Day Group. “The apple holds tremendous promise.”
Derek Corder, host of yesterday's Bigbucks orchard walk on Beaulieu Farm, Grabouw and partner in Pink Vein Pty Ltd with the discoverer of Bigbucks, Buks Nel (Tru-Cape Fruit Marketing & Pink Vein) and Calla du Toit (Bigbucks Growers' Association chairperson). Photo: Graeme Krige
Calla du Toit of the Bigbucks Growers’ Association says that the application for plant breeders’ rights in the rest of the world is in progress. “There is incredibly intense interest in Bigbucks. Its packout percentage is unheard of - as high as 95%. It colours easily and it’s a major improvement on existing Gala selections.”
The Bigbucks harvest has commenced in the Western Cape.
A beautiful bin of Bigbucks
Eight years ago Bigbucks was spotted by Buks Nel, fêted pomologist at Tru-Cape Fruit Marketing, who is always on the lookout for genetic variations in orchards and, in particular, Gala orchards. Bigbucks is a spontaneous genetic mutation of the South African Corder Gala, named after apple producer Derek Corder.
In 2017, after the first commercial Bigbucks harvest, he told FreshPlaza: “What thrills me about Bigbucks isn’t so much that it’s completely red, which is a bonus, but that it’s genetically stable. I’ve seen a reversion of between 5% and 49% in other Gala orchards and it’s this that gets farmers down.”
“Everyone is looking for a stable Gala,” he noted. “We have not seen a single reversion thus far.”
In South Africa the cultivar is administered by the SAPO Trust on behalf of the cultivar owners Derek Corder, Anthony Rawbone-Viljoen and Buks Nel, whose company Pink Vein is named after the central red vein in the leaf. Globally, Belgian company ABCz Fruit is the Bigbucks license holder.
For more information
https://www.bigbucksapples.com/