New Zealand Journal of Crop and Horticultural Science abstracts
+Author for correspondence.
H00036Received 11
September 2000; accepted 19 October 2000
Review
Kiwifruit in China
H. HUANG
Wuhan Institute of Botany
The Chinese Academy of Sciences
Moshan, Wuchang
Wuhan City, Hubei 430074
People's Republic of China
email: hongwen@public.wh.hb.cn
A. R. FERGUSON+
The Horticulture and Food Research
Institute of New Zealand Ltd
Private Bag 92 169
Auckland, New Zealand
email: rferguson@hortresearch.co.nz
Abstract The two commercially most important kiwifruit
species worldwide are Actinidia chinensis and A. deliciosa. Both species are
native to China: A. chinensis grows more in the lowlands in the more eastern
provinces towards the coast, A. deliciosa in the western, inland, colder areas.
Large quantities of kiwifruit are collected from wild vines although this
resource is threatened because of the methods of harvesting. Commercial
cultivation of kiwifruit in China started only 20 years ago and by 1998 there
were c. 45 000 ha of kiwifruit orchards, 75% in cultivars of A. deliciosa,
25% in cultivars of A. chinensis. About one third of the total plantings are in
Shaanxi province. Many different cultivars of A. chinensis and A. deliciosa
have been selected but 12 of these, together with `Hayward' from New Zealand,
account for nearly 85% of the total area planted in kiwifruit in China. These
cultivars are described. The A. deliciosa cultivar `Qinmei' is the most widely
planted, c. 40% of the total area. Average yields per hectare are still low and
most plants are either young or have not even started cropping. In 1998 the
total production of kiwifruit from China was 118 500 t, and in 1999 c. 165 000
t, two thirds of which came from Shaanxi province. Almost all the kiwifruit produced are sold within China and, to date, only small quantities
are exported. Within a few years China will be producing much more kiwifruit
from commercial orchards than any other country and this is likely to have a
significant impact on international trade in kiwifruit.
Keywords China; kiwifruit; Actinidia chinensis;
Actinidia deliciosa; cultivars
New Zealand Journal of Crop and Horticultural Science, 2001, Vol. 29:
1-14
0014-0671/00/2901-0001 $7.00 (c) The Royal Society of New Zealand 2001
PDF file of entire paper: medium quality (1594K); (scanned from paper original: notes about this process)
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