Features Fruit Production
New apple boosts Australia apple industry

September 2, 2014 – Tens of thousands of apple trees featuring a new dark-burgundy fruit bred in Western Australia, will be planted in orchards around the area this year.

Premier Colin Barnett said WA growers had shown strong interest in the new apple – dubbed The Black Apple during development. It was recently released for commercial planting.

About 75,000 trees were made available for sale last month and the majority of these have now been sold to growers in key WA apple growing areas. The apple was bred by the Department of Agriculture and Food, which manages an apple-breeding program based in Manjimup. READ MORE