The Research Institute of the Generalitat de Catalunya was created in 1985, attached to the Department of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries, Food and the Natural Environment.
IRTA's mission is to become a scientific benchmark in the agri-food sector, to encourage innovation in sustainable production and processing systems, in order to improve the quality and safety of food that has a direct impact on the environment and health. human.
Since its foundation, IRTA has contributed to the modernization, improvement and promotion of the competitiveness and sustainable development of the agricultural sector, in fruit production, above all, through the genetic improvement of varieties and technology. Now, in response to this process of improvement, the new varieties of Almond IRTA are presented, obtained in their own
genetic improvement program: ‘Vairo’, ‘Constantí’, ‘Marinada’ and ‘Tarraco’.
These varieties, with excellent agronomic and commercial behavior, are characterized by being late flowering (reduced risk of frost), self-fertile (decreased pollination problems), with a high productive capacity, disease tolerance and a high fruit quality.
Plant material is a key factor to consider in new irrigated almond plantations. Almond cultivation has undergone a remarkable renewal in the last 25 years due to the spread of varieties obtained by research. During 1992, IRTA registered three varieties: ‘Masbovera’, ‘Glorieta’ and ‘Francolí’. These achieved a wide distribution (with sales of approximately 600,000 plants).
In 2011, IRTA obtained the Rights to Obtain Plant Material (TOV and CVV) for four new varieties, which have been very well received by the sector and are being distributed very quickly.

DOCUMENTATION-VARIETIES-ALMOND