“Taming” kiwi in Transcarpathia

An unheard-of event occurred in November at an Uzhhorod supermarket – they sold kiwis grown in Transcarpathia. Shoppers bought 300 kilograms of this fruit in two and a half hours, in spite of the restriction that one person could buy not more than one kilo. Henrikh Straton himself conducted the sales in order to acquaint people with a new local fruit.

The Uzhhorod breeder began experimenting with kiwi in 1992 together with his father who used to work at greenhouses. They gathered the first crop in the late 1990s. “The kiwi, a plant of the genus Actinidia, comes from the Far East. It may be cold in that region – accordingly, the source material is frost-resistant. This brought forth a hypothesis that it is possible to raise in Ukraine a plant that will grow in an open soil and bear large fruits,” Straton says.

Oddly enough, it was easier to breed a new variety than to register it. But the official registration of the variety Carpathian Straton Valentine is now drawing to a close. “Valentine” is a tribute to the breeder’s father Valentyn. The young breed has already made a name for itself. A lot of farmers visited Straton this year in search of kiwi seedlings. As the breeder has too few resources so far to launch commercial production of the fruit, he distributes the planting stock. He plans to grow 40,000 seedlings next year and still more later on.

The kiwi is a “grateful” plant – you can harvest at least 25 tons of fruit on a one-hectare plantation. The prime cost of this fruit grown in Ukraine is on a par with that of local apples and grapes or even lower – kiwis do not need to be sprayed with expensive pesticides because there are no pests or diseases in Ukraine, which are dangerous to them.

The Uzhhorod breeder experiments not only with the fruit, but also with what can be done out of it. In addition to making traditional kiwi preserves, such as juices, syrups, and marmalades, Straton has loaded several barrels to distil the fruit vodka tentatively called “kiwovytsia.” This kind of beverages is much in vogue in Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic. The fruit vodka is prepared without yeast on the basis of natural fermentation. Besides, the innovator plans to increase the area of his kiwi plantation from 1.3 to 5-6 hectares next year. “Kiwis with a golden pulp are already on sale in New Zealand and Southern Europe. I am working to grow similar golden and, at the same time, frost-resistant fruits,” Straton says. “I also crossbreed the kiwi and other species of Actinidia. I will perhaps manage to breed the kiwi with an edible skin so that one does not have to peel it at all. There is no such variety in the world so far!”