The IRTA is working to register the Divina almond variety, more productive and resilient to climate change

2023-09-27 00:24:25

A team from the Agricultural Research and Technology Institute (IRTA) is working to register a new almond variety that is more productive and resilient to climate change. Named Divina, it has been obtained from the classic genetic improvement of previous varieties that are currently already present on the market. Among the characteristics of this specimen, the head of the IRTA almond tree improvement program, Ignasi Batlle, highlights the later flowering, the ability to self-fertilize, the quality of the fruit and the resistance it offers to drought conditions. After half a century of research, the project is now still the last step before commercializing the new variety, which could take up to eight years.

For now, IRTA has four almond varieties on the market and has a dozen selected specimens, of which he is betting on registering a new variety, which will be named Divina. The research is based on classical genetics, through a method that pollinates an almond flower with two previously selected parents, the seed is extracted and germinated. Finally, it is planted in an experimental farm located at Mas Bové de Constantí (Tarragonès) and monitored to determine its qualities. Each year, the organism produces about 5,000 seeds but only between 1 and 2% are selected.

Various requirements

To avoid being discarded by researchers, the new almond trees must meet a series of requirements; one of the determining factors is maintain productivity in conditions of drought or less irrigation, a key element in a context of climate change. In this way, the IRTA almond trees that pass the selection stages are those that produce a minimum of 1,500 kilos of grain per hectare per year. Other elements are added to the list, such as the ability of the plants to be self-compatible or the quality of the dried fruit.

This is the case of the Divine selection, with which the researchers have managed to delay flowering for up to two months, at the beginning of April. With this advance, the head of IRTA’s almond improvement program, Ignasi Batlle, is confident that episodes of frost can be avoided that damage the flowers and, therefore, the harvest of this crop. At the moment, the project is in its last phase, the registration phase, which could last three years. According to the IRTA, it will be necessary to wait between seven and eight years before it can be commercialized and used by farmers in the area.

Before being registered, other tests of the adaptability of this specimen of the Divina almond tree beyond the grounds of Mas Bové, in other climatic conditions, are pending. Thus, the planting and monitoring of this selection has begun in other estates where this crop is usually grown, as is the case in the Ebro Valley, Castile-La Mancha, Andalusia, Extremadura and the Levant area.

The quality of almonds, looked at with a magnifying glass

As for the quality of the nut, consumer tastings and trained panels have already been launched to determine both the quality and the reception this new almond could have among potential buyers. In the case of consumer tastings, participants must rate the different samples provided blindly, while trained panel members must rate the almonds using a standardized rating scale.

All this makes it possible to detect possible defects in the fruit and, at the same time, to test the response of future customers to the new product, as postdoctoral researcher in nuts Leontina Lipan has pointed out. “We work for the farmers, but with the consumers in mind. The agronomic part is aimed at the farmer and the quality part at the consumer, in the end both benefit, it’s a symbiosis,” remarked Batlle.