Floyd Zaiger, creator of the pluot and more than 100 varieties of fruit, eyed the group standing in his orchard.

They had come to taste 209LZ12, a vibrantly yellow-skinned, white-fleshed peach. It has less acidity than normal and relatively little sugar, which keeps it firm while retaining a mouthwatering, summery character.

He watched peach juice drip down a chin or two. “Nobody’s collapsed?” he asked. “Then, I’ll try it.”

Zaiger, 85, is arguably the most famous plant breeder alive today. From his farm west of Modesto, he has created novel new fruit – like the pluot – that grace tables around the world. He has also improved familiar varieties, such as creating plums that can weather an intercontinental voyage.

These innovations have revolutionized an increasingly global fruit industry, earning him a reputation among farmers and fellow fruit experts that is hard to overstate.

“Big, with all capital letters,” suggested Tom Gradziel, a geneticist and professor of plant sciences at UC Davis. “We’re all beneficiaries, and by we I mean the public in general and me as a breeder.”

Zaiger Genetics is hardly your average biotech outfit. At heart, Zaiger is a San Joaquin farmer, and his headquarters, with its sprawling orchards and weathered buildings, could be mistaken for any neighboring farm, save for the large gaggle of pickups in front. They belong to 15 visitors gathered for Zaiger’s regular Wednesday tour.

Experts take the tour

The group includes UC Davis researchers, one of Washington’s top cherry farmers, growers from two other continents, and the president of Dave Wilson Nursery, which markets Zaiger’s fruit in the United States. Spanish and Australian visitors were there the previous day, French the previous week.

In the orchards, everyone picks a piece of fruit, chomps down and fills their bags. It could pass for a U-Pick.

Or not. A grower from Chile pulls out a Sharpie and begins marking notes on a peach. Leith Gardner, Zaiger’s daughter, squeezes cherry juice onto a glass plate, measures the level of sugar in the fruit, and shouts that number out to the group.

Zaiger’s mission for almost a half-century has been to find a magic combination of traits that make for irresistible fruit, and these gatherings are his primary tool for R&D. Each week, he shows off his latest creations and customers assess their potential. A veto from a big grower can end a project on the spot.

1 out of 10,000

“We grow 50,000 crosses per year, and if we can get one (that works) out of every 10,000, we can break even,” Zaiger said.

Plant breeding is laborious, but the basics are simple: Find a plant that needs tinkering and another plant that’s genetically compatible and has desirable traits; emasculate one and pollinate it with the other, and hope the resulting offspring offers the best of both.

Failure comes far more than success. When success does come, the annual growing cycle makes progress slow. There are quicker options – like tweaking plant DNA with gene insertion – but Zaiger remains rooted in 1960s-era techniques.

Zaiger’s reputation has been built not only on his success but also on his conservative breeding approach.

“This is classical genetics,” said Zaiger’s son, Grant, who runs the business with his two siblings.

Great impact overseas

If Zaiger’s influence in the American produce aisle is profound – savvy shoppers will recognize the Honey Kist nectarine or the Dapple Dandy pluot by name; others will know them by flavor – his impact overseas may be even greater.

In Australia, chain stores now offer both regular and “subacid” peaches. The latter have a sweetness that shoppers find irresistible – and Zaiger has helped make subacid a formidable part of the industry, even if most Americans don’t know they’re buying subacid fruit.

Growers can order more than 100 Zaiger-created varieties. The constant feedback has provided rules of thumb: France and China love white-fleshed fruit, while the Spanish are keen on saucer peaches. Israel, South Africa and southern Spain need fruit that requires less chilling and can ripen earlier.

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