New kiwifruit variety Sungold is 'ticking all the boxes” for growers, says the director of Western Bay of Plenty kiwifruit operators, Direct Management Services.

Paul Jones is so confident in the future of the variety, also known as G3, the company is to open its Golf Course Orchard in Paengaroa to growers for a special field day on Tuesday October 22 to share its success in the conversion and management of the G3.

DMS director Paul Jones will lead the G3 field day on October 22.

Paul says G3 is 'ticking all the boxes” in terms of ease of conversion, growth, yield, fruit size, Psa tolerance, drought resilience, strength in the packhouse and supply chain, and most importantly, taste and consumer acceptance, and grower profitability.

About 12 months ago Paul was battling with Psa in his G3 vines, but by early 2013 he went public with the company's view the new gold variety was the best pathway to recovery for the kiwifruit industry.

Fast-forward another five months and much of the industry has formed the same opinion, with interest in the 2013 release of G3 licences far exceeding the 400 hectares available.

'In September last year, we were battling hard with the Psa on our vines. It was tough to remain positive and it was not clear that we would succeed in providing a 2013 crop.

'Then I realised the new growth was coming fast and it was ‘clean'. The vines were simply fighting back. There was a resilience there that just wasn't present in 16A and we very quickly formed the view that G3 was going to succeed in a Psa environment.”

In the past 12 months, DMS and it growers have converted more than 130 hectares to G3 – known in the consumer market as Sungold. In the current season, DMS harvested and packed 160,000 trays of G3, with a loss of just 11 trays (final season figures) through the packing and storage process.

'With two crops of G3 behind us, we now know more about it and how to manage it, and the variety is performing even better than we thought.

'Any doubts about its yield, taste and acceptability in the market have been completely dispelled – in fact, when you get the management mix right, the taste is not only acceptable, it's outstanding.”

Paul says the variety still requires aggressive and careful management in a Psa environment.

'Sadly, Psa will never be fully eradicated in New Zealand and there is no room for complacency in terms of orchard management. G3 has proven itself to be more tolerant than other varieties, and with the right climate management and spray programme, it can flourish.

'We have taken some bold steps focusing on G3 for ourselves and our growers, but these moves were made with an informed confidence.

'Now, we are champions in grafting and growing, packing and coolstoring G3, using innovative techniques that we have developed to drive the best possible growth, yield and profit. We want to help growers maximise the potential of their own orchards and will be sharing some of our first-hand experience and insights at our field day.

'In April we publicly declared our firm view that G3 was the way forward for the kiwifruit industry in New Zealand, contrary to the belief of many in the industry. This view has been further reinforced by our results this season and we believe the G3 variety holds significant future potential for our growers and the wider industry. We're inviting growers to come along and see why.”

The DMS Field Day, which aims to share G3 results and experiences to help growers maximise the potential of their own orchards, is from 9am to 11am at the Golf Course Orchard, at 56 Maketu Rd, Paengaroa. For further information, go to www.dms4kiwi.co.nz