Grupo Hijuelas welcomes University of Queensland experts to revolutionize avocado plant production.

The collaboration between the University of Queensland (Australia) and Grupo Hijuelas, announced last September for the exclusive licensed in vitro, or tissue-culture, propagation of avocado plants in Latin America, is beginning to drive a transformation in avocado plant production on a global scale.

This follows Grupo Hijuelas’ recent visit from Dr. Chris O’Brien, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Queensland and the Centre for Horticultural Science at the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI). His visit to the company’s laboratories and facilities marked the first step in the technology transfer process for clonal avocado propagation, aimed at growers throughout Latin America.

“I am here training the staff so that the technology we have developed can be transferred to a broader part of the industry and help improve the propagation of clonal rootstocks, allowing growers to access the best possible plant material,” said Dr. O’Brien.

During his visit, he shared with the Grupo Hijuelas team the techniques developed at Professor Neena Mitter’s laboratory in Australia for the clonal propagation of four avocado varieties licensed to the company.

The researcher also highlighted the professionalism of the Grupo Hijuelas team:

“The work here is first-class. The staff are very friendly and highly skilled at what they do. They are learning, receiving training, and this is an excellent laboratory and an ideal environment in which to implement this technology.”

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Technology

The license granted to Grupo Hijuelas was issued by UniQuest, the commercialization company of the University of Queensland. This pioneering technology, one of the first of its kind worldwide, is expected to significantly improve both the efficiency and quality of avocado plant production across the region.

As Gaspar Goycoolea Vial, President of the holding company, explained: “One of the most important benefits of tissue culture is that, once you have the right variety, you can propagate it on a large scale and fully express the potential of that genetics.”

The impact of this collaboration extends far beyond Grupo Hijuelas’ laboratories. According to Dr. O’Brien, “Our supervisor, Professor Neena Mitter, would be very pleased to see how the transfer of research originating from her doctoral studies to a company like this is generating a global impact on the avocado industry.”

The collaboration between the University of Queensland and Grupo Hijuelas reinforces the importance of partnerships between academia and the private sector in driving agricultural innovation.

“This visit is only the beginning of a collaborative journey aimed at strengthening the development of the fruit industry in Latin America through groundbreaking techniques that will help shape the trends of the coming years,” concluded Juan Ignacio Goycoolea, CEO of the agricultural holding company.

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