Kiwifruit is one of the most popular fruits nowadays, mostly because of high vitamin concentrations such as vitamin E and vitamin C, and other useful elements such as carotenoids, flavonoids, minerals and others. Some data suggest that Actinidia genus contains more than 50 species and more than 100 subspecies. Nowadays we have three economically important species: A. deliciosa, A. chinensis and A. arguta from which we created most of our grown varieties. The biggest producers and exporters of kiwis in the world are China, New Zealand, Chile and Italy and in the top ten we can find quite a few European countries as well such as Italy, France, Greece, Spain and Portugal. Climate conditions and soil attributes in Slovenia are not the best for growing kiwi, with the exception of Primorska region. The biggest problems Slovenia is facing in growing kiwi are spring and fall frosts, strong winds, and in some regions water shortage combined with insufficient soil type and structure. Possible regions for growing the most important species of kiwi A. deliciosa are Primorska and the warmest parts of Štajerska. A. chinensis could possibly be grown only in Primorska region, meanwhile A. arguta could be grown in the best regions across the country.
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