Kiwifruit is a major horticultural export earner in New Zealand.
New Zealand is the second largest kiwifruit producing country, next to Italy,
and holds approximately 30% of the market share. In the 2008-2009
season the value New Zealand kiwifruit exports was NZ$1.45 billion.
Kiwifruit is native to the Yangtze River valley
on the coast of Eastern China. The New Zealand Kiwifruit industry began
with Mary Isabel Fraser, a teacher and missionary, bringing kiwifruit
seeds to New Zealand from China in 1904.
A New Zealand horticulturalist, Hayward Wright, developed the
well-known green kiwifruit in Avondale, New Zealand, around 1924. The
well known green kiwifruit were later renamed “Hayward” as a tribute to
Hayward Wright.(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)