Crisp, attractive, and delicious. This sums up Rosy-Lwazi, a brand new very early red blush pear cultivar that has been bred locally by the Agricultural Research Council (ARC) and commercialised by Culdevco.
According to Culdevco, Rosy-Lwazi is a serious contender to farm with and expands South Africa’s blush pear cultivar range.
In addition, it also widens the marketing window as it is now the earliest blush pear available on the market, which means early access overseas, and therefore better prices for local farmers.
Culdevco’s general manager, Mishkaat Anderson, said the variety is harvested early in the season and it will be the first red-blushed pear from South Africa to reach the overseas consumer.
“According to our northern hemisphere market evaluations in the previous season, all indications are that its gorgeous red blush colour, great quality and taste, and long shelf life will do exceptionally well in these markets.
“Rosy-Lwazi really is a quality pear, crisp and delicious with no mealiness in the mouth,” Anderson said.
A long journey to ensure quality
This blush pear variety began its journey in 2007 when it was singled out by an ARC breeder, Taaibos Human, as a potentially profitable cultivar. Sixteen years later, in the first week of January 2023, the first Rosy-Lwazi was harvested at Eselfontein farm just outside Ceres in the Western Cape.
According to Eselfontein manager, Vernon Bassett, it is very rewarding to experience a harvest day. Bassett said the launch of the new pear variety symbolises all the years of effort and they can finally reap the benefits of the fruit.
“We initially planted over 500 trees in 2018 and anticipate that, as our tree volume grows, we can increase our tonnage per hectare.
“This year we harvested 28 tons for export and we anticipate that we will reach the recommended tonnage of 55 to 60 tons per hectare in the near future. This season was our second year of exporting Rosy-Lwazi,” Bassett said.
Culdevco joined Bassett, in the Warm Bokkeveld to begin the first commercial harvest of the variety.
Attractive and adaptable
Experts refer to the early pear variety as attractive and adaptable farmers. This is because the harvest coincides with very few volumes of red-blushed pears being available in the northern hemisphere’s marketing window.
“At that window, profitable prices are achievable if quality blush pears can be exported to these countries. And Rosy-Lwazi shines when it comes to its attractive red blush, earliness, flavour, texture and storage ability,” Bassett said.
The new blush pear variety has already been exported to the Middle East and Europe and consumers are loving it.
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