That research led to the local trial, the Bioeconomy Science Institute\u2019s Satish Kumar told RNZ\u2019s Country Life.<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout 10 years later, we thought that, hey, why can\u2019t we try and test whether we can grow them here in New Zealand as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause [the] climate is changing, and especially in Northland.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho knows, maybe in another 10, 15 years, we might be looking at a completely different situation, so we are, in a way, being proactive and trying to introduce and maybe try new crops.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kumar took Country Life on a tour of the orchard where rows and rows of prickly fronds – the dragon fruit is a member of the cactus family – tumbled over a system of posts and wires, developed alongside the new cultivars.<\/p>\n
Part of the orchard was under a plastic tunnel system, protecting the crop from the winter cold and the region\u2019s increasingly intense rain.<\/p>\n
He said in a tropical climate, dragon fruit come into full production in about three years, with five harvests a year, whereas in New Zealand, they took a year longer, with just two harvests a year.<\/p>\n
Under cover, they hoped to increase the yield and squeeze in one more harvest.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy gut feeling is that the yield is going to be significantly higher in the tunnel system compared to the open orchard system.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know that the visual quality of the fruit is a lot better compared to outdoor, so that means the rejection rate will be lower.\u201d<\/p>\n
The plants were also less prickly, which workers were pleased about, he said.<\/p>\n
While cost-benefit analyses were yet to be done, Kumar said the varieties had local potential, especially as New Zealand\u2019s Asian population grew.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost of those people, they know what it tastes like, what it looks like, they are more than likely to try anything new that we offer them, and they do appreciate the taste of these new varieties.\u201d<\/p>\n
The trial has shown dragon fruit do better growing under cover in New Zealand. Photo \/ RNZ, Sally Round<\/p>\n
Dragon fruit was just one of several unusual crops the region\u2019s economic development agency, Northland Inc, had looked at for the region.<\/p>\n
It had provided analyses of emerging and high-value crops like papaya, pineapple, turmeric and ginger and a 2025 report it commissioned suggested there were real opportunities for growers and farmers if they used protection such as tunnel houses and shade covers.<\/p>\n
Luke Beehre, programme lead for the Tuputupu Grow Northland initiative, said change was coming, and strategic decision-making rather than knee-jerk reactions was vital.<\/p>\n
\u201cProtected cropping opens the door for Northland growers to do things we simply couldn\u2019t do before.<\/p>\n
Satish Kumar shows Luke Beehre and Jeanette Johnstone, of Northland Inc, the dragon fruit growing under cover. Photo \/ RNZ, Sally Round<\/p>\n
\u201cGrowers who contributed to the research talked about improved crop quality, the ability to reach markets earlier, and better working conditions for staff – all of which strengthen the case for further investment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Data was still being collected for the dragon fruit trial, but work was in its early stages to bring the new varieties to market.<\/p>\n
The trial\u2019s commercial partner VentureFruit, said a brand name and marketing collateral had been developed but were still under wraps.<\/p>\n
MG Marketing was the head licensee and would handle interest from growers.<\/p>\n
Bioeconomy Science Institute’s Satish Kumar peels a piece of dragon fruit for tasting. Photo \/ RNZ, Sally Round<\/p>\n
\u201cThe concept globally is to form a network of licensees who grow, sell and market fruit of the varieties under the brand,\u201d a statement from VentureFruit said.<\/p>\n
Kumar was happy the home-grown fruit had passed his own taste test.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I started the programme in 2013, honest, I didn\u2019t like the taste at all, but now I love eating them, especially the new varieties.\u201d<\/p>\n
They were sweet, with a kiwifruit-like texture, good shelf life and appealing to the eye without the \u201cinconvenience\u201d factor of juice dribbling down the chin, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe new varieties that we have developed, we want them like a premium cultivar, to change the profile of how people view dragon fruit.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey all are producing here quite happily.\u201d<\/p>\n
– RNZ<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"That research led to the local trial, the Bioeconomy Science Institute\u2019s Satish Kumar told RNZ\u2019s Country Life. \u201cAbout…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":387832,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[5195,8834,138,18660,19718,2065,111,139,1536,24926,69,13310,18833,8909,79791,61],"class_list":{"0":"post-387990","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-be","9":"tag-big","10":"tag-business","11":"tag-crop","12":"tag-dragon","13":"tag-fruit","14":"tag-new-zealand","15":"tag-newzealand","16":"tag-next","17":"tag-northlands","18":"tag-nz","19":"tag-poised","20":"tag-round","21":"tag-sally","22":"tag-sweeter","23":"tag-to"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387990","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=387990"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387990\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/387832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=387990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=387990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=387990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}