The market for medium-sized butternut fruit of high quality that can be packed into 3kg bags for supermarket sales is an important consideration for butternut growers.
Melora has become known in the Cape as an early maturing and reliable F1 hybrid that gives high production and quality. The ideal fruit size, attractive fruit appearance and excellent internal quality make Melora ideal for marketing in bags as well as for exporting.
A field of Melora was transplanted on the 25th of August 2022 and harvested during the first week of December in the Southern Cape. The Melora plants showed exceptional fruit uniformity when compared to the standard variety and gave a very good yield of high-quality fruit. The crop delivered a very high proportion of fruit size ideal for packing 3kg bags. These were used for direct sales to supermarkets. Any fruit larger than this was quickly sold through the more traditional channels, and a very low percentage of fruit was rejected.
Like any vegetable crop, profitability depends on producing high yields of the required standard. If this is achieved with a quicker crop cycle, cost will be lowered. Melora delivers all of these and forms an important part of Southern Cape butternut growing.
