01/13/2003

Kiwifruit Flourishes at Chilton County Research Site

CLANTON — Chilton County is known mostly for its peaches. But just off Interstate 65, in the shadow of Clanton’s giant peach water tower, a smaller, fuzzier fruit has quietly put down roots and flourished.

It’s the kiwifruit. In research that has been going on for nearly two decades at the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station’s (AAES) outlying unit in Clanton, it has proved itself a viable crop, not only for home landscapes and backyard gardens but potentially on a broader scale of production as well.

“We know with certainty that kiwifruit will grow here, and grow well,” said Jim Pitts, superintendent of the Chilton Research and Extension Center (CREC). “We harvested our first full kiwifruit crop from the vines here 13 years ago, and we haven’t missed a crop since.”

Researchers planted kiwifruit at the CREC in 1985 as part of an AAES study to determine the feasibility of growing the fruit in Alabama. Plants were also set out at the Gulf Coast Research and Extension Center in Fairhope, the Wiregrass Research and Extension Center in Headland and the Brewton Agricultural Research Unit in Brewton.

Kiwifruit, which are native to China, are subtropical plants, which means they don’t tolerate extreme cold. That’s why Billy Dozier, project leader for the AAES kiwifruit research, theorized in 1985 that the Fairhope, Headland and Brewton centers would have the most success growing the sweet-tart fruit.

“I didn’t think they could take the colder temperatures up as far north as Clanton,” said Dozier, who is also a horticulture professor in Auburn University’s College of Agriculture. “But Clanton’s the only unit where they’re still growing and producing.”

Mild winters were the major culprit in the kiwifruit’s dismal performance in the three south Alabama centers. While the kiwifruit varieties in the AAES study require only 300 to 400 chilling hours (hours with temperatures below 45 degrees Fahrenheit) to survive each winter, they need about 1,000 chill hours to produce fruit. Although the vines themselves grew with vigor at the Wiregrass, Gulf Coast and Brewton centers, they remained fruitless.

Not so at Clanton, where the trellised vines are hardy and highly prolific. Based on the yields they’ve seen in the Chilton County kiwifruit crop, Pitts and Dozier estimate commercial growers in that stretch across the state could realize impressive yields as high as four to five tons per acre.

Kiwifruit is one of several fruits Dozier’s team is studying to determine their viability as specialty crops for Alabama. Specialty crops are high-value crops that can be grown on limited acreage and still be profitable. Satsumas, blueberries and shiitake mushrooms are among those grown in Alabama now. In addition to kiwifruit, others showing strong potential in AAES research include Chinese chestnuts, plums, blackberries and persimmons.

In the AAES kiwifruit study, researchers initially looked at two varieties: Hayward, the most widely used commercial variety, and Fitzgerald, which a Baldwin County backyard grower developed several years ago and which is one of about a dozen kiwifruit varieties AU researchers will patent later this year. Both the Hayward and the Fitzgerald are traditional kiwifruit, fuzzy-skinned with bright green flesh and a slightly tangy flavor.

In recent years, though, a golden-fleshed kiwifruit has been added to the trial, and it, too, has performed remarkably well. In fact, Dozier predicts the golden kiwifruit will be the mainstay of Alabama’s budding kiwifruit future, for a couple of reasons. First, the golden kiwifruit, which is hairless and smooth-skinned and sweeter than the green-fleshed version, is bound to be in high demand. Second, new golden varieties recently developed in China and soon to be tested in Alabama require fewer chill hours, and that could expand Alabama’s potential kiwifruit-producing region.

Kiwifruit vines are actually treelike shrubs that reach heights of up to 25 feet high, so they must grow on trellises to support the sheer weight of the fruit and branches. For a new commercial kiwifruit orchard, trellis construction would account for the lion’s share of start-up expenses, said Pitts, who estimated the cost at $5,000 for the recommended 340 kiwifruit vines per acre. For established kiwifruit crops, labor would be the biggest operating expense, primarily because the fast-growing vines must be hand-pruned at least once during the dormant season (November through February) and at least twice per growing season.

Through the course of the AAES kiwifruit project, researchers have seen only minor insect and disease problems, and those have been easily remedied with minimal pesticide use. They also have found that, in frigid weather conditions, spraying water on the trunks and scaffolding of kiwifruit vines — which creates an ice coating that keeps the plants warmer than the air temperature — is highly effective in protecting kiwifruit from freeze damage.

Kiwifruit were known as Chinese gooseberries from the time they were first introduced in the U.S. in the early 1900s through the 1960s, when commercial plantings began in California. In the ’70s, however, kiwifruit became the internationally accepted name, so bestowed because of the fruit’s supposed resemblance to kiwi — small, brown, flightless birds common in New Zealand, the world’s kiwifruit-growing capital.

Today, kiwifruit are available in the U.S. year-round, with New Zealand, Chile and California keeping the nation supplied. Pitts and Dozier know Alabama could not compete on a scale with New Zealand and California, but they are convinced that in central and south-central Alabama, kiwifruit could be a profitable specialty crop.

Nutritionally, the small kiwifruit is a powerhouse, labeled by some these days, Pitts said, as a “nutraceutical,” or a food packed with health benefits. Research indicates kiwifruit are the most nutrient-dense of all fruits. They have the highest level of vitamin C of any fruit and are an excellent source of magnesium, potassium and vitamin E.

“They’re so good for you, everybody ought to eat at least a kiwifruit a day, whether you want one or not,” Pitts said.

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News from:

Office of Ag Communications & Marketing

Auburn University College of Agriculture
Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station
3 Comer Hall, Auburn University
Auburn, AL 36849
334-844-4877 (PHONE) 334-844-5892 (FAX)

Contact Jamie Creamer, 334-844-2783 or jcreamer@auburn.edu
Contact Billy Dozier, 334-844-3027 or doziewi@auburn.edu
Contact Jim Pitts, 205-646-3410 or pittsja@auburn.edu

01/13/03

For immediate release