How a fruit producer is adapting to climate change with genetics
May 5, 2022 | By Jack Ellis
The team at International Fruit Genetics (IFG) is no stranger to ‘customizing’ crops. The Bakersfield, California-based company uses natural breeding techniques to come up with its cultivars, which it then licenses to growers and fruit brands.
Founded by fruit geneticist and former US Department of Agriculture researcher David Cain in 2001, IFG set out on a mission to develop sweeter and larger table grape cultivars – culminating in the creation of its flagship Cotton Candy grape, which went on sale in 2011.
More recently, IFG has been tackling a new and more pressing challenge for the fruit industry: climate change.
