330 - Avocado Genetics and Improvement

Avocado consumption is rapidly increasing, and global production booming. However, the diversity of fruit choices is typically constrained to Hass.  There is tremendous diversity in avocado, featuring a range of flavors, oil content and seasonal availability. In this week’s podcast we speak with Eric Focht who has been running the breeding program at University of California in Riverside. We discuss the genetic origins, the breeding priorities, and next steps in the genetic improvement of the crop.