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Government grant supports fruit trial

24 March 2011

The South Australian Government has allocated $10,500 from its Riverland Sustainable Futures Fund to a trial plantation of a South American sub-tropical fruit tree, the Feijoa.

A Riverland horticulture business, GM Arnold & Son, will plant 234 Feijoa trees near the River Murray at Waikerie.

Regional Development Minister Gail Gago says the company has established a good track record in diversifying its traditional citrus holdings.

"These funds have been awarded to GM Arnold & Son for costs associated with establishing the Feijoa orchard over the first two years of a planned five-year trial," the Minister says.

"It will enable GM Arnold & Son to expand into an exciting new niche market.

"Feijoa, which is currently grown commercially in Brazil and northern Argentina, has a sweet, fruit-salad like flavour. It is sometimes called the pineapple guava.

"The trees are drought tolerant and thrive under irrigation.

"Commercial production of the Feijoa will be for the domestic market and GM Arnold & Son has already received interest in the product from Melbourne," Minister Gago says.

GM Arnold & Son business manager David Arnold expressed his appreciation for the government's support.

"Thanks to the Riverland Sustainable Futures Fund our business is now able to establish the sustainability of Feijoa as a commercial cultivar for the region," he says.

"It gives communities and businesses great confidence when governments put support into a region that has plenty to offer."