![]() Tozer seed company said the Kalette also is not genetically modified. Rabin said these hybrids are not genetically modified - a term that confuses and frightens many consumers - because the cross-pollination occurs within the same species of plants. Rabin said most of the Jersey-grown asparagus grown this spring was the new variety. Most people don't know they are eating a hybrid. "Rutgers hybrid male asparagus varieties are a culinary prize for consumers and an important commercial production advancement for farmers," Rabin wrote in a recent article about the hybrid asparagus. They also are feted by cooks because of their sweeter taste. ![]() The asparagus is a boon for conventional farmers because they require less herbicide and produce a bigger yield. Rutgers scientists spent more than 45 years cultivating the Rutgers supermale asparagus, a plant that emerges earlier in cold soil, produces larger spears that are actually more tender than the petite variety, and are more disease-resistant than their predecessors. ![]() Jack Rabin, associate director of farm programs for Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, said agricultural scientists are always searching for more disease-resistant, nutrient-dense plants with better flavor. The Ugli, the trademarked name for the Jamaican tangelo mixed with Seville orange, has a sweet and tangy flavor despite its wrinkly appearance. Other hybrid fruits include the tangelo (tangerine and grapefruit), the tayberry (blackberry and a red raspberry), the blood lime (red finger lime and Ellendale mandarin, which itself is an orange/mandarin hybrid), the limequat (Key lime and kumquat) and the black tomato (green and red tomatoes). Look for the white Autumn King to come out in July and the red Scarlet Royal grape in August. The price of pluots should fall to $1.99 per pound by the end of July, when production picks up.Ĭalifornia grape growers introduced two new seedless grape varieties with superior taste and quality about three years ago, Jenkins said. "If they are big and ripe, the juice comes down all over you" when you bite into one. "They are more expensive, but their eating quality is superior," Jenkins said. There are about 20 varieties of pluots, and they come in red, black and green. Currently in season, they sell for $2.99 per pound. Pluots, the cross between a plum and apricot varieties, have been praised for their sweet taste. (That price will go down to $1.99 in the fall.) They currently sell in ShopRite for between $2.99 and $3.99 per pound. Farmers, however, lose nearly half their yield each year because this tender fruit easily falls off the vine, which is one of the reasons for the higher price. These hardy apples are sweet and crunchy as the name suggests and, moreover, they don't bruise easily. "The honey crisp apple is becoming a real craze in the industry," Jenkins said, noting the honey crisp was produced by a 1960 cross between a Macoun and a honey gold as part of the University of Minnesota apple breeding program. Derrick Jenkins, vice president of produce and floral for Wakefern Food Corp., said consumers are cheering other hybrids that have hit the supermarkets in the past few years.
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