User:Hank22af1

What is the history of the kiwifruit in Caliornia?

This is an old fruit in China, originating in central China along the Yangtze River Valley. However, the fruit has been propagated and improved in New Zealand, and that country now is considered the commercial home of kiwifruit. Specifically, in 1906 it was introduced into New Zealand under the name of Chinese gooseberry, and during the next quarter century New Zealand nurserymen selected large-fruited seedlings, which became commercial varieties. The New Zealand kiwifruit industry developed after World War II and today is primarily centered in the Bay of Plenty area near Tauranga.

In 1935 the U.S. Plant Introduction Station at Chico, California received plants of a large-fruited variety. These plants are the ancestors of most of the Hayward variety plants gorwing in California today, and after 40 years the parent vine still is fruiting.

In the 1960s the Chico station developed cultural methods for the kiwifruit, and growers were encouraged to experiment with new plantings. Two growers imported several thousand plants from New Zealand in the mid-1960s to establish the first kiwifruit vineyards in California. Limited nursery production began in Chico about 1960, and nurseries devoted solely to kiwifruit production began in Gridley in 1966. By 1970 approximately 50 acres were growing in Kern and Butte counties.

John Heinke, of Paradise, California, was the first commercial grower of kiwifruit, followed shortly by Judd Ingram, of McFarland, California. It was at this early period in 1967, that Frieda's Finest/Produce Specialties became the first marketer of California kiwifruit.

http://food.oregonstate.edu/faq/kiwi/faq_kiwi4.html