A new avocado variety that is the result of decades of painstaking tree breeding by UC Riverside agricultural scientists has been selected as one of TIME's 2023 Best Inventions, the international news outlet announced Tuesday, Oct. 24. This recognition comes just months after UCR released the variety, called the Luna UCR™, to commercial growers worldwide...
Mary Lu Arpaia and Eric Focht have bred avocado trees in association with the University of California, Riverside, for decades. In the video below, they describe their quest for a better avocado that resulted in the release this year of the Luna UCR™, a new variety that is the great-grandchild of the Hass. Speaking from...
UCR NEWS - A new avocado variety that’s more than a half-century in the making will soon be available to growers in the world marketplace. It’s called the Luna UCR™ and offers consumers great flavor, a rind that turns a tell-tale black when ripe, and high postharvest quality. Growers, meanwhile, will benefit from a smaller...
UCR OFFICE OF TECHNOLOGY PARTNERSHIPS - The University of California, Riverside’s (UCR's) avocado scion breeding program began in the 1950’s and continues today under the guidance of Dr. Mary Lu Arpaia, Professor of Extension, Subtropical Horticulture. It has been a model avocado varietal breeding program worldwide and maintains one of the largest avocado germplasm collections...
UCR NEWS - UC Riverside scientists are on the hunt for a chemical that disrupts “evil” weevils’ mating and could prevent them from destroying California’s supply of avocados. Avocado weevils, small beetles with long snouts, drill through fruit to lay eggs. The weevil grubs or larvae bore into avocado seeds to feed, rendering everyone’s favorite...
New grants totaling $6.3 million will help UC Riverside solve problems facing American avocado orchards, including a lethal fungal disease called Laurel Wilt. Laurel Wilt can destroy an entire avocado orchard in a couple of weeks once symptoms develop. It is already present in Florida. Without effective treatments, it will inevitably spread to California, which...
FOOD52 -- A few years ago, an Australian company called Naturo Technologies invented a machine—the Natavo Zero, aka the Avocado Time Machine. This ATM supposedly miraculously slows the avocado ripening process, keeping it from turning brown for up to 10 days without the use of chemicals—or olive oil, or lemon juice, or red onion. (Naturo...
UC Riverside has entered into a $2.25 million partnership with Spain-based Eurosemillas S.A., a global leader in the commercialization of agriculture innovations, to help the university bring to market the most promising and advanced avocado scions and rootstocks in its collection. If successful, these varieties would meet diverse regional growing requirements, exhibit better post-harvest characteristics...
UC Riverside is testing whether a sesame seed-sized wasp can control a pest that could seriously damage California crops including wine, walnuts, and avocados. The pest, a sap-sucking spotted lantern fly, is originally from China and was first detected five years ago in Pennsylvania. Since then, large populations have spread rapidly to grape vines, apple...
