Australia: More profitable macadamia varieties are on the way through faster breeding

TWO new macadamia varieties are scheduled to be released in 2025 with researchers hoping they will shorten the nut's production time. The National Macadamia Breeding and Evaluation Program at the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation is using genomic selection in search for more efficient breeding systems for the nut. University of Queensland Professor Bruce Topp said the new cultivars will be more profitable for farmers. "One of our aims is to improve efficiency by reducing the generation length or production time," Professor Topp said. "It took more than 20 years to develop four new cultivars released in 2017, that replaced the 50-year-old cultivars before them. "If we can halve the time it takes to produce a new variety, then we're doubling the annual rate of genetic gain. "We are expecting two new cultivars to be ready for release as early as 2025." Australia's macadamia industry is expanding with 800 growers nationwide and more than 41,000 hectares of ...