A new rootstock for mandarins will be launched next month, providing growers with the first opportunity to view the performance of mature trees.
Malcolm Smith, citrus breeder at the DAF Bundaberg Research Station, said the new variety would be named after Patricia Barkley, a retired citrus pathologist who was instrumental in bringing new genetic material, including this particular rootstock, to Australia.
“To be marketed under the name of Barkley, this new rootstock has shown solid performance over the last 10 years of production in an Imperial rootstock experiment planted at Gayndah in 2004,” Mr Smith said.
"The field day is the first opportunity for growers to see mature trees on these different rootstocks, and consider their suitability for commercial use ahead of anticipated seed availability in a few years’ time.”
source: weeklytimesnow.com.au
