How sweet it could be
Parma trials evaluate far-out fruit for nearby and faraway markets

Shinko: A crispy brown Asian pear the size of a grapefruit, with a surprisingly nutty flavor perfectly balanced between sweet and tart.

Emerald: A very spicy-sweet, green seedless table grape that grows in impressive 3- to 6-pound clusters.

Smyrna: An oblong yellow quince with a sharp pineapple-guava-pear flavor for making jams, jellies, and scents and for just simply eating fresh.

In alternative fruit plots at the UI Parma Research and Extension Center, fruit physiologist Essie Fallahi is evaluating a veritable cornucopia of exotic fruit.

Beyond his 22 varieties of apples and 65 varieties of nectarines lie 2 1/2 acres of table grapes and 400 trees that are—or will be—bearing almonds, mulberries, white-fleshed nectarines, Asian pears, flat peaches, persimmons, quince, and plum-apricot hybrids called pluots.

What Idaho can learn from Iran
It is a cross-cultural experiment of a most unusual kind. On his family's ranch 100 miles north of Tehran, the Iranian-born Fallahi enjoyed an encyclopedic variety of fruits. In Iran, toasted barberries garnish rice dishes, and the delicacy of choice at every celebration is fruit. "Growers can sell any kind of fruit they have," he says.

With a climate remarkably similar to Iran's, Treasure Valley growers should be able to grow—and sell—many more kinds of fruit than they do now, says Fallahi. He foresees a time when the Parma station can become a center for alternative fruit development for local and regional markets.

Fallahi began evaluating alternative fruit in 1993 after Idaho plums lost their narrow market window to California and the apple market started to tumble. He planted 26 selections of table grapes that have since expanded to over 100, including several hardy Russian varieties. Six or seven of those selections are simply "outstanding," he says, prompting formation of a new Idaho Table Grape Association that already boasts 60 members.

While alternative fruit such as Asian pears or quince "will never replace apples as a major orchard crop," Fallahi is convinced that small quantities will reliably find big prices in niche markets.

Ron Mann, a Treasure Valley organic orchardist who has joined Fallahi in many of his evaluations, says he can "sell all I've got" of Asian pears. "When we go to the Boise markets, people literally line up to get our stuff." But even larger markets are nibbling at Mann's table grapes: buyers from Central and South America and from Europe and Asia have expressed interest.

"Maybe it's only 100 acres here and 200 there, but it adds up," says Mann. "Every time we help one family, we keep another farm intact."

Contact Fallahi at efallahi@uidaho.edu

--by Marlene Fritz

© 2004 University of Idaho, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.