Australians to teach Chinese farmers how to grow popular variety of apples

An Australian company has given permission for Chinese fruit farmers to grow Pink Lady apples, a popular fruit in Australia.

Under the landmark agreement, an organization in the state of Tasmania has agreed to share the secret cultivation method to grow its distinctive "Ruby Pink" apples with China.

Disability non-for-profit organization Oak Tasmania, through its subsidiary Tahune Fields Nursery, produces 200,000 apples, pears and stone fruit each year on its 40-hectare nursery. But its main source of income is the "Ruby Pink."

Tasmania,s Premier Will Hodgman, who returned from a trade mission in China last week, hailed the announcement as another example of the Chinese-Australia Free Trade Agreement opening up new opportunities.

"It's an exciting deal," Hodgman told News Corp on Tuesday.

Oak sent representatives to the "Australia Week in China" last week to close the deal.

In exchange for the intellectual property -- and exporting the fruit -- the Tasmanian company will earn royalties on every "Ruby Pink" apple tree planted in China.

Thousands of Australian apple-tree rootstock are expected to be cultivated and planted in a deal that could be worth millions, Oak Tasmania chief executive John Paton said.

"The royalties returned to Oak will allow the organization to expand a range of opportunities within the Tasmanian community," Paton told News Corp on Tuesday.

Tahune Fields Nursery's operations manager Steve Brezinscak said their market research indicated there was a huge, untapped market for Pink Lady apples in China.

Fruit Growers Tasmanian business development manager Phil Pyke backed up Brezinscak's point, saying Tasmania stood to open up an entirely new export industry through the deal.

"It's a potentially big new industry for the fruit industry," Pyke said. "There is big demand coming out of China for root stock."

"This could be the beginning of another industry." Endit