Does New Zealand export its best cultivars to overseas competitors? Recent publicity about the testing of the 'Cluthagold' apricot in Australia has raised questions about what, and when, New Zealand plant material is sent overseas. This article outlines the importance to New Zealand growers and HortResearch breeders of exchanging plant cultivars with overseas research institutes, and the mechanisms available to protect New Zealand growers from being disadvantaged.

The overwhelming majority of New Zealand agriculture, horticulture and forestry is based on plants that are not indigenous, and consequently their genetic base relies totally on introduced material. Both Pinus radiata (pine) and Actinidia deliciosa (kiwifruit) were imported many years ago and went on to become important export industries. However, New Zealand must continue to develop new, improved and novel cultivars to sustain its competitive advantage in export markets. Particularly in fruit crops, new cultivars need better fruit quality, yield, climatic adaptation, and resistance to pests and diseases. These requirements are achieved both through breeding programmes and by selecting from plant material imported from overseas.

Acquiring overseas germplasm and cultivars is an essential part of all breeding programmes. If we wish to widen our gene base, we must have access to overseas germplasm. For example, 'Cluthagold' is a cross between 'Moorpark' and 'Sundrop' - 'Sundrop' being released from a breeding programme in Canada. Commercially important overseas cultivars may be evaluated under New Zealand conditions and may perform well. However, the plant material imported is not always of immediate commercial use. Frequently, material is imported because it has one characteristic that is required in our cultivars, such as disease resistance. The particular selection or cultivar is imported, not for release in New Zealand, but to use as a parent in breeding programmes.

Collaboration with overseas breeders can gain valuable time, as well as promising new plant material. If we obtain scionwood from overseas, we have to wait as long as five years for the material to be imported, quarantined, flower and be able to be used in breeding programmes. By obtaining pollen or seed from crosses carried out overseas, we are able to considerably shorten the time taken in breeding new cultivars adapted to New Zealand conditions. In kiwifruit, where all plant material has been sourced from overseas, our

breeding programme may benefit greatly from seed sent to New Zealand from crosses made in China. In the new apple cultivar 'Sansa', the cross was made as a result of a similar collaboration with Japan.

In order to have access to overseas plant material, our breeders regularly travel to overseas research institutes and have developed important networks with other breeders. These relationships are of great value for all our crops. For example, Mike Malone has recently sourced advanced stonefruit selections through collaboration with breeders in Georgia, USA. (There are also many stonefruit cultivars with desirable characteristics in Europe, but we need to be extremely careful in importing these due to the presence of the plum pox virus.) Ron Beatson has contacts with hop breeders in the US, the UK and Europe; Greg Pringle, who recently returned from 6 months study leave in the US, has developed close associations with strawberry breeders in California; Harvey Hall has ongoing active collaboration with Rubus breeders in the US and Europe. Dominique Noiton joined the American Crop Advisory Committee expedition late last year to collect wild apple and pear germplasm in Kazakhstan and Krygyzstan, where the domestic apple is thought to have originated. The unique Malus germplasm collected from these countries is expected to greatly extend the range of characteristics available to our pipfruit breeding programmes. Such relationships are important to our gaining access to new material.

An important part of this collaboration with overseas breeding programmes, which helps to ensure ongoing access to new plant material, skills and knowledge, is the expectation to send some of our germplasm in exchange. This is part of establishing goodwill and trust within the collaborative relationship. The material we send may be of no immediate commercial value, but may contain particular characteristics of interest for overseas breeding programmes; or it may have potential commercial value. Trials of commercial varieties are undertaken overseas not only to ascertain their performance under different conditions, but also to give the New Zealand breeder control over the introduction and release of the cultivar in that country. It is widely recognised now that even with the best security, promising plant material will always eventually find its way overseas. If there is no protection in the overseas country, then such plant material may be propagated and released without restriction. For these reasons, it is vital that growers do not send plant material overseas, take material with them, or allow visitors to be unaccompanied in orchards where these protected cultivars are growing.

Trialling a commercial cultivar in an overseas country and then protecting it later, if it performs well, is the best way to ensure it is not illegally propagated in that country. The use of plant variety rights in overseas countries and the threat of possible legal action has been a very effective way of stopping unauthorised plant imports. Plant Variety Rights mean that the cultivar protected can only be propagated in that country by nurseries licensed to do so, and royalties must be returned to New Zealand. Cultivars are therefore "protected" to preserve the rights of the breeder to get a return on their investment. HortResearch uses royalty income derived from protected cultivars to fund ongoing breeding programmes and speed up the development of new cultivars for New Zealand growers.

In some instances, it can be advantageous to have New Zealand-bred cultivars grown in Northern Hemisphere countries which do not compete directly with us, creating off-season demand that growers here are able to fill. HortResearch blueberry cultivars, for example, have created a demand in the North American market for large-size fruit. Selling plants of these cultivars to North American growers increases the year-round demand for these superior blueberries. New Zealand growers then gain premium returns for their fruit during the North American winter.

It is very important that New Zealand maximises any competitive advantage achieved through unique and superior cultivars. Although such advantage can never be retained forever, it is possible through controlled introduction, testing and plant protection laws to maximise the lead time. Also by having strong, dedicated and focused breeding programmes in New Zealand it is possible to always be one step ahead of the competition. This will require a more rapid turnover of the highest value cultivars grown in New Zealand.

Some cultivars can remain "fashionable" for an extremely long period of time; for example, 'Hayward' kiwifruit or 'Golden Delicious' apples. However, the trend nowadays is for fashions to change quickly: in strawberries overseas, the cultivar of prime commercial importance will change about every five years. The best way to protect the competitive advantage of the New Zealand fruit industry is not by relying on the release of a superior cultivar, but by regularly developing innovative new selections which become premium export fruit cultivars. Rapid development of new cultivars has become vital to remain competitive. The use of biotechnology offers exciting new possibilities to generate novel cultivars more quickly, with potential already to increase sweetness, shelf life, and resistance to pests and diseases.

The reality of the new competitive environment for plant varieties is that New Zealand will only retain its competitive advantage by maintaining better breeding programmes and more rapid introduction and turnover of new varieties , not by naively thinking that it can keep new varieties within New Zealand for long periods of time. HortResearch does not commercially release its cultivars overseas if this will be detrimental to New Zealand growers. HortResearch will continue to work with the New Zealand horticulture industry to enhance its competitive advantage through breeding and introducing novel and superior cultivars.

Source:
The Orchardist, September 1994, Vol: 67 Number: (8):58