World Economic Importance

Abstract

Kiwifruit are amongst the best examples of the successful domestication and commercialisation of a new crop. They occur naturally in China, but until the beginning of the twentieth century, they were simply wild plants. The first commercial orchard of A. chinensis var. deliciosa in New Zealand, the first commercial kiwifruit orchard anywhere in the world, was producing fruit by the early 1930s. Domestication of A. chinensis var. chinensis is even more recent. Today, kiwifruit are an important, if relatively minor, crop easily recognised by consumers throughout the world. The total world production of cultivated kiwifruit is approximately 3 million tonnes, of which China produces about half. Most of the Chinese kiwifruit are for local consumption, whereas New Zealand, Chile and Greece produce kiwifruit mainly for export. Italy is also an important exporter of kiwifruit. The predominant cultivar grown is A. chinensis var. deliciosa ‘Hayward’, a green-fleshed kiwifruit, which makes up about two-thirds of the total world production.