Plant & Food Research in New Zealand and the Southern Horticultural Research Institute (SOFRI) in Viet Nam have announced the launch of three new dragon fruit varieties to the global market. The organisations have been working together since 2013 to breed new varieties with better grower and consumer characteristics.
All three new varieties are red-skinned with a sweeter, more aromatic flavour and a crisp dense texture. The new fruit's flesh colours are a traditional white, a unique pink and a dark red. The varieties are also believed to be the first canker-tolerant commercialised dragonfruit - canker is a highly destructive dragonfruit disease.
“These new varieties demonstrate a strategic and innovative approach between all partners involved to create new dragon fruit genetics that taste better and delivers huge grower benefits in terms of canker tolerance. We are looking forward to working with local Vietnamese growers and sharing the knowledge and techniques developed by SOFRI and Plant & Food Research on growing systems. This allows for these unique new dragon fruit varieties to be grown optimally to achieve higher yields, as well as improving production and providing higher returns for growers,” said Morgan Rogers, VentureFruit’s General Manager.
Their development was part of the New Premium Fruit Variety Development project and supported by funding from the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The fruits will be commercially developed in Viet Nam before being exported and are expected to be available to consumers by 2027.
“These new varieties of dragon fruit are the result of a strong collaborative effort by the breeding teams at Plant & Food Research and SOFRI, bringing together key areas of strength and expertise from both. We are thrilled with the appointment of VentureFruit as exclusive licensee to take these varieties out to the market,” said Dr Satish Kumar, Lead Breeder from Plant & Food Research.
“We look forward to seeing the growth of Viet Nam’s dragon fruit export market and a positive impact on farmer incomes. Seeing New Zealand’s International Development Cooperation programmes develop into commercially sustainable partnerships is a satisfying example of strong New Zealand – Viet Nam bilateral cooperation and shows the value of our development partnership with Plant & Food Research,” said Tredene Dobson, New Zealand’s Ambassador to Viet Nam.
