Genetics Play a Key Role in Speciality Crops
Tim Hammerich
News Reporter
Yesterday was National Almond Day, and as bloom begins throughout California, the state will begin the process of producing about 80% of the global supply. The success of the California almond industry can be attributed to a lot of factors, including genetics. Robert Gray is a field representative for Birchell Nursery.
Gray… “We are a nursery that provides trees to almond growers, walnut growers, cherry growers up and down the state of California, also to the Pacific Northwest .We actually have our own in-house breeding program. And from that program we've developed new and exciting varieties, such as Shasta. That really has a good track record here going and now Pyrenees is out as our latest release.”
Gray said that Shasta has been a major success, but the company did want to rest on their laurels, bringing this new variety, Pyrenees, which is developing a reputation for its strong amaretto flavor.
Gray… “We don't want to stop with just one variety either, we want to be able to cater to what the industry needs. And so our next release Pyrenees is a little different from the Shasta. So the Pyrenees, for example, would be harvesting later the Shasta already harvests with nonpareil for example, which is already the majority of the market. So having a lot of varieties come off at the same time, doesn't give a lot of options to the grower.”
New genetics will continue to be a key part of the farm of the future.