YOUR INDUSTRY
THE LEGACY OF PETER FALLOON Heather Chalmers
The family of renowned asparagus breeder Peter Falloon is finding solace in continuing his legacy. “Peter dedicated his life to a very special crop and it is important that we keep the momentum going,“ says his wife Linda following Peter’s death last year. Operating Aspara Pacific, the only asparagus breeding programme in the southern hemisphere, Peter commercially released his own distinctive varieties including a world-first Phytophthora tolerant asparagus. While the rest of the southern hemisphere grows virtually the same variety (UC 157) from California, Peter’s legacy means that New Zealand has asparagus bred to suit local conditions, with its own recognised taste and look. As Peter was the main driver for the breeding work, as well as consulting internationally, Linda and their son Matthew are now having to take on a more high-profile role. “We are reassessing the business and where we want to put our energies. In the past we relied on Dad to set the direction,“ says Matthew, a physiotherapist who joined the family business in 2016 when his father first became unwell. Aspara Pacific, established by Peter and Linda in 1990, has a plant tissue culture laboratory and four ’level two’ quarantine tunnel houses near Rolleston, south of Christchurch. Asparagus breeding trials are carried out on a four-hectare block beside the house, while seed production is done on another 20-ha block nearby. The seed is then grown in a crown nursery to produce rootstock, which is lifted for sale to commercial growers and home gardeners. The family also have a one-hectare block growing fresh asparagus spears to sell in spring at the gate and farmers’ markets. Aspara Pacific also plays a key role in the New Zealand seed potato industry as a main supplier of high health stock. It grows tissue culture plantlets in glasshouses to produce mini tubers, which are used by seed potato growers for multiplication. The last season has been challenging, not just for the Falloons, but the wider asparagus industry with the Covid-19 pandemic presenting a raft of obstacles. Hitting growers hard have been virtually no exports because of a lack of airfreight, labour shortages, increased costs 26 NZGROWER : JULY 2022
Aspara Pacific founder, the late Peter Falloon. His asparagus breeding programme is being continued by his family
of production, and an extended lockdown in Auckland shutting restaurants during the peak asparagus harvest last spring. “Hopefully this season, things will be more positive, with restaurants and possibly more tourists back. If air travel gets going again, exports can restart,“ says Matthew.
