What was it all about?

 This project funded the Australian Pome Fruit Improvement Program (APFIP) from 2011 to 2016, with the work carried out by the Australian Pome Fruit Improvement Program Ltd – a not-for-profit company established by the Australian Apple and Pear Growers Association (AAPGA) now Apple and Pear Australia Limited, for the benefit of the pome fruit industry in Australia.

The project built upon earlier projects starting in 1996. The program had three objectives:

• To introduce prompt and secure acc ess to new pome fruit varieties and rootstocks through efficient post entry quarantine protocols
• To develop and deliver to the Australian pome fruit industry independent and objective variety and rootstock information
• To deliver confidence in tree selection by promoting and managing an efficient and effective certification scheme for the Australian pome fruit nursery industry.


Activities of the program provided growers with the opportunity to improve their profitability by having good variety performance information to assist with decision making on what to plant, availability of high quality nursery stock that deliver higher yields of quality fruit, and ready access to new varieties.

During 2014, an independent review of APFIP was conducted. It found that the program had changed industry attitudes and provided direction in areas that had been limiting the profitability of the apple and pear industries. Lower levels of productivity were addressed through the adoption of the APFIP tree health certification scheme and faster delivery of better varieties through a variety evaluation system and improved quarantine processes.

During the life of the 2011-2016 project:

• Fifteen new varieties were evaluated

• 60,000 certified nursery trees and rootstocks were planted into new orchards

• The time taken for new pome fruit planting material to pass through post entry quarantine was reduced from 18 months to just one year
• 45 new pome fruit cultivars were imported into post entry quarantine during 2015, of which 13 apple varieties, 2 pear varieties and 1 pear rootstock have been cleared for APFIP evaluation potential use in Australia orchards.

ACT NOW

Learn more about the Australian Pome Fruit Improvement Program on the APAL website.