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Lbs/Acre at 3rd Leaf!
Yorizane, The Gold Nut™
The Yorizane almond (Y116-161-99) is a new self-fertile variety released by the USDA as of January 2021. With high yield, excellent yield efficiency, and a high quality nut, it’s sweeping the board on California almond varieties.
We’re calling it The Gold Nut™ for the striking golden color of the kernel and its incredible economic potential in the almond industry.
The variety is a star from the 3rd generation 2014 Regional Variety Trials from the Almond Board of California and the UCCE, where The Gold Nut™ showed itself as the most successful newly introduced variety of this decade. 2023-2024 Regional Variety Trial Report
In the 4th generation Modesto Regional Variety Trial, hosted at the Duarte Dewitt Ranch, the Yorizane produced over 1,000 pounds at 24 months old in 2024. This production level at only second leaf is unprecedented. It towered over other self-fertile and industry standards in the trial. 2024 Modesto Regional Variety Trial Report (Duarte Dewitt Ranch)
For a complimentary sample of in-shell Yorizane kernels, reach out to marketing@duartenursery.com or call 209-531-0351.
Duarte Nursery has Yorizane available now.
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Yorizane Botanical and Production Data
The unique botanical features of the Yorizane contribute to its major success as an almond variety. Look through the tabs below for the link between the Yorizane’s botanical features and its outstanding performance in research from the Almond Board and the UCCE.
Having trouble viewing? Click the button to download a pdf.
2,700 lbs/acre at 3rd Leaf!
This year, the Yorizane produced over 2,700 lbs/acre at 36 months old at the Duarte Dewitt Ranch in Modesto.
This is an incredible yield on a three-year orchard, made possible by the high production of the Yorizane variety, its compatibility with vigorous rootstocks like Bright’s Hybrid 5, and the moderate-to-high density spacing that it thrives in.
The graph below shows the Yorizane production at this orchard in its second and third leaf, compared to the UC Cooperative Extension’s (UCCE) projection for almond production on young orchards and the 5-year California statewide average.
The UCCE predicts that a three-year-old orchard like the Duarte Dewitt Ranch will only yield 500 lb/acre on average. The Yorizane has produced over 5x more than that projection, and has already outperformed the 5-year average of 2,014 lb/acre.
Harvest results: The Yorizane kernels from this ranch received the highest grade from the processor, and shook clean off the tree.
About the farming system: The Yorizane orchard at the Duarte Dewitt Ranch was planted at 20’x10′ spacing on Bright’s Hybrid 5 in September 2022. It is unpruned except for maintaining shaking clearance. Trees were roped twice during the early years for additional support. The N-P-K applied for the 2025 season was 190 N, 30 P, 367 K. Total water applied was 24 ac-inches, making this crop highly water efficient. One hive per acre was used during bloom. To learn more about the farming methods at the Duarte Dewitt Ranch, contact Isaac Duarte at isaac@duartenursery.com.
Botanical Features of the Yorizane Almond
Botanical Feature |
Description |
Economic and Sustainability Benefits |
Self-Fertile |
The Yorizane accepts its own pollen for fertilization. | 🪙Single variety planting allows for one-time harvest and more precise inputs. |
Self-Fruiting |
The flower architecture of the Yorizane has the tip of the pistil at or below the height of the stamen, increasing self-fruitfulness. | 🪙Less bees are needed for pollination and reduces the risk of rain disrupting pollination. |
Butterfly Hull |
The hull of the Yorizane peels away from the nut while on the tree, creating a butterfly-shaped opening. | 🪙Allows for easy hulling and maximizes natural kernel drying. Potentially reduces hull rot strikes. 🌱Less dust during harvest with off ground system |
Early Harvest |
In 2024, the Yorizane harvested 8 days before Nonpareil at Duarte Dewitt Ranch. | 🪙Reduces pest exposure, enables more post-harvest recovery, and is more adaptable to regions with shorter seasons. 🌱Reduced pesticides |
High Quality Nut |
The Yorizane meets the criteria of an in-shell variety and roasts and blanches. It ranks very high on quality tests. | 🪙Premium pricing in market. |
High Light-Yield Efficiency |
The light-yield efficiency of the Yorizane on both Hansen and Bright’s Hybrid 5 rootstocks ranks the highest of all varieties at the Dewitt Ranch Trial. | 🪙Better output per input, with more crop per acre. 🌱More efficient inputs (Nitrogen, water, etc) |
Easy Release |
The Yorizane can be dried down below 10% on the tree and shakes clean in a few seconds. | 🪙Efficient shaking with lower sanitation costs. 🌱Less dust during harvest with off ground system, reduced pesticides |
Rootstock Compatible |
The Yorizane is compatible with all major rootstocks. We find that it performs exceptionally well on vigorous selections such as Hansen and Bright’s Hybrid 5. | 🪙Minimize risk to growers. |
Good Canopy Architecture |
The branches of the Yorizane are stable, and are not prone to significant willowing or bending. It resembles the Nonpareil in shape, but is smaller in size. | 🪙Trees support heavy crops and are more easily managed. |
Extended and Dense Bloom |
At the Dewitt Ranch in 2024 and 2025, the Yorizane had a notably extended and dense bloom. | 🪙Creates a hedge against unfavorable weather events during bloom. |
Small-to-Medium Tree |
According to the 2023-2024 Regional Variety Trials, Yorizane has 85-90% the PAR of Nonpareil. |
🪙Suited to medium-to-high-density orchards. |
Yorizane Yields in UCCE Regional Variety Trials
The Yorizane produced an exceptionally high yield in its second leaf at the Modesto Regional Variety Trial. In 2024, the Yorizane with Hansen rootstock had a yield of 1,013 lbs/acre, over 30% more than every other variety in the trial.
Rootstock vigor and yield efficiency are a major factor in the Yorizane’s high yield. The spacer rows in this trial were planted with Yorizane on Bright’s Hybrid 5, a highly efficient rootstock selection. This combination resulted in an even bigger yield of 1,060 lbs/acre. Learn more about light-yield efficiency in rootstocks.
The Modesto Regional Variety, planted at Duarte Dewitt Ranch in 2022, is designed by UCCE farm advisor Roger Duncan. The Yorizane has been a stand-out variety in this trial with its incredible yield, high crack-out %, very low defects, and large kernel size.
Duncan R. et al. (2024). Regional Field Evaluation of New Almond Varieties & Selections – 4th generation. University of California Cooperative Extension.
We consider the Madera Regional Variety Trial, planted at 12′ x 21′ spacing on Hansen rootstock, to be the most optimized trial of the first generation Regional Variety Trials. In this trial, the Yorizane ranks third for the 8-year average yield. Pay attention to the consistency of the Yorizane every year. Where other varieties in this trial jump and shrink from one harvest to the next, the Yorizane keeps fairly steady. The Yorizane may be less prone to alternate bearing than other high-yield varieties.
Self-Fruiting Flower Anatomy
The Yorizane is a self-fruitful almond variety with a unique flower anatomy that allows it to better pollinize itself without the addition of bee hives.
Self-Fertile varieties will set crop without cross-pollination from another variety, but still require pollinators for full production.
Self-Fruiting varieties are self-fertile with a flower structure that allows for a high level of pollination with little to no bee activity. Yorizane blossoms have a pistil at the same height as its own stamens, making it easier for each blossom to pollinate itself.
In its second-leaf yield at Duarte Dewitt Ranch in 2024, Yorizane significantly outperformed the other self-fertile varieties by 36% or more (see “High Yield” tab). There were no bees placed at this trial in 2024. This is solid evidence of the Yorizane being uniquely self-fruitful even among self-fertile varieties.
“The introduction of a self-fruitful almond cultivar would reduce the industry’s reliance on migratory pollination services at a grower savings of roughly 15% of their annual operating costs.”
High Quality Nut
- With a soft shell, an excellent seal, and a 67% crackout , the Yorizane markets well as both a kernel and an in-shell variety.
- Yorizane kernels are slightly larger than Nonpareil, blanch well, have very low defects, and “should be promoted in the California Marketing Group”.
- The Yorizane also harvests early, lowering exposure to Naval Orange Worm and Carpophilus Beetle damage.
In November 2019, the Almond Board of California held its first ever “Crack-Out” event and brought together over 70 public and private breeders, growers and handlers, hullers/shellers, UC researchers and nurseries to sample 64 varieties of almonds.
Sensory characteristics were measured using the hedonic scale for the following sensory aspects: Appearance, Aroma and Flavor, Taste, Texture, and Market Potential. The Hedonic Sum represents the sum of all these sensory measures for each variety.
The Yorizane, referred to at the time as Y-116-161-99, ranked third out of 64 almond varieties.
Butterfly Hull and Easy Harvest
The Yorizane almond variety has a butterfly hull, which is when the hull of an almond splits open on the tree. This allows for easy hulling and maximizes natural kernel drying before harvest.
Because the Yorizane dries down to low moisture content on the tree and shakes off easily, it is an ideal variety for single-pass and even offground harvest systems, like the catch-frame shakers typically used in pistachio harvests. This would reduce dust, lower sweeping and labor costs, and streamline harvest for growers.
Hull Rot Resistance
There is also a correlation between butterfly hulls and lower hull rot strikes in almonds. In the 2021 Madera Regional Variety Trial, the Yorizane ranked among the lowest varieties for hull rot strikes, along with Y117-91-03, another variety known to have a butterfly hull.
