A relatively new prune cultivar is showing quite a bit of promise for California growers. Manager of the Prune Breeding Program at UC Davis, Sarah Castro said the Yolo Gold cultivar has produced some positive results in their work. The variety is a yellow fruit that dries into a deep brown or black color. Castro explained that work is underway to have the Yolo Gold patented through the university within the year. Industry members appear to be excited about the potential of the cultivar, which produces fruit with superior taste.
“That one is a fruit that harvests about one to two weeks after you would typically harvest Improved French which is the industry’s standard cultivar at this point,” said Castro. “It’s got a good dry-away ratio usually ranging between three and 2.5 and we have quite a few acres going in this next year.”
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