Feijoa

HortResearch has been selecting and breeding feijoa since the late 1970s. Cultivars from this programme have become the mainstays of the New Zealand feijoa industry ('Apollo', 'Gemini', 'Opal Star', 'Kakapo' and 'Pounamu').

Recently HortResearch established a feijoa breeding programme to develop feijoas for the domestic and export market with larger fruit, fuller shape, high yields and high fruit quality. We are using conventional hybridisation and quantitative genetic analyses to develop breeding lines and cultivars.

Our feijoa germplasm collection contains a diverse collection of feijoas (Acca sp.) from the centre of origin in Brazil and Uruguay as well as selections from around the world and is probably one of the most diverse collections outside of South America. These selections provide a valuable genetic resource as parents in the breeding programme as well as a resource for propagators and nurserymen (see Genetic Resources).