Selection and Breeding of Olive Cultivars

Abstract

Although the Australian olive industry is at least 150 years old, it has not prospered until the last five years and the majority of olive products that are consumed are imported from Europe. Wild progeny, or ferals, have spread from abandoned orchards and now grow across large areas of southern Australia. The selection of superior olive varieties from this gene pool will help to sustain the renaissance of an Australian industry that is developing rapidly. The Olive Improvement Program at Adelaide University is focusing on several important areas: DNA fingerprinting for cultivar identification, olive oil tasting, selection and breeding of superior types, the biology of pollination, and genotype adaptation. The major objective of this programme is to enable Australian olive growers to produce world-class oils that are in demand both locally and for export.