A new breeding strategy, intended to reboot Australia’s passionfruit industry, is being led by University of Queensland researchers. The five-year project is funded by Hort Innovation and headed by Dr Mobashwer Alam from Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation. He aims to create at least two new high-quality varieties of the fruit in the next few years with more to follow.
Dr Alam: “Passionfruit farm yield is declining, and we currently have only a few varieties available to the local industry. These varieties are also increasingly susceptible to pest and disease, so the new varieties we develop will be resilient as and suited to the Australian consumer. The aim is to create new opportunities and boost profitability for growers. Most of the passionfruit grown in Australia is for domestic consumption, so there is scope to start exporting the fruit as well.”
The Australian passionfruit industry is worth around $24 million each year with about 130 commercial growers producing more than 5,000 tons of fruit.
Source: uq.edu.au
