Growing cherries is “high risk, high reward” but farmers now have access to new varieties better suited to difficult climate conditions.
Australians love cherries, with more than 80 per cent of the 15,000 tonne national production consumed domestically last year, according to industry body Hort Innovation.
Low-chill varieties are being planted in the hopes of shoring up supply to meet the Aussie and export appetite for these festive fruits.
Developed by international breeding company Bloom Fresh, commercial plantings of the cherries are already in Australia, Chile, South Africa, and Spain.
The company’s Australia and New Zealand technical manager Arisa Hayashi said the varieties were suited to inland areas like South Australia’s Riverland and the Sunraysia region in Victoria.
Arisa Hayashi says the new varieties cope better with hot and dry climates. (ABC Rural: Eliza Berlage)
“They can start their growing season earlier once they have accumulated enough chill and be one of the first cherries to be harvested in Australia,” she said.
Traditional cherry varieties required about 800–1,000 hours of temperatures between one and five degrees, but Ms Hayashi said the new varieties needed less than half of that.
“There’s not a cherry in the world that doesn’t require any chill but our varieties like Cheery Cupid and Cheery Nebula can have as little as 300 chill hours,” she said.
“Even in the traditional and cooler climate regions, our varieties are providing as an alternative solution as a replacement for varieties that are not satisfying chill requirements.”
Bloom Fresh’s new cherry variety Cheery Nebula is being trialled in inland growing regions across the country. (Supplied: Bloom Fresh)
These varieties require growers to pay a licensing fee, like a fruit production royalty, which is about five per cent of their net production.
In exchange they receive support and visits from company staff, as well as contributing to a research and development fund.
Growing the season
The local season runs from October to February, with the majority of production across the southern states of the country.
Ms Hayashi said the new varieties could also be suited to a few regions in southern Queensland.
“There is a small region in Stanthorpe, which is a traditional growing region, where we are doing some climate modelling, zoning exercises, and understanding weather data to determine the potential for our varieties,” she said.
South Australia’s largest cherry producer Tony Hannaford has been trialling the new varieties at his orchards in the Adelaide Hills and Riverland.
Mr Hannaford hopes the new varieties will produce more reliable and better tasting cherries. (ABC News: Che Chorley)
While it will be about three years until they could be ready for the market, he hoped they would be worth the investment.
“There’s many things that can go wrong with cherries like frost and rain but also variations in chill, which we are getting with some warmer bursts of weather during the winter period,” Mr Hannaford said.
“If you can eliminate one of those more damning issues then you’ve got a better chance of getting to the finish line.
“Hopefully they give you a better eating experience but also lower chills so you should get cherries more regularly, I think.”
