PEACHES

Peaches and nectarines rank third in the world in production for temperate tree crops. As the global economy grows, and the produce industry demands a year-round supply of fruits, the production of stone fruit in the non-traditional subtropical and tropical regions is increasing. This allows for earlier harvest (April and May in the Northern Hemisphere, and October and November in the Southern Hemisphere) and a continuous supply of these fruit throughout the year. The development of medium and low chill Prunus varieties is opening up the southern regions of the country for peach production, advancing the commercial harvest by 2-3 weeks. The further development of commercially useful varieties adapted in these low chill zones in the USA could add another 10% in production capacity. This would have the potential value of $50,000,000 annually in the USA. International use of these cultivars would increase this potential value.