Plum breeding in the Fruit Research Institute of Cacak, Serbia-results of the last 15 years

Abstract

Fruit Research Institute, Čačak in Serbia has a 60-year tradition of breeding work to develop new plum cultivars. The most important breeding objectives were: fruit quality, high and regular bearing, early and late ripening time, tolerance or resistance to Plum pox virus (PVV), and adaptability to different climate conditions. In the last 15 years, seven new cultivars were named and released: ‘Boranka’ (‘California Blue’ × ‘Ruth Gerstetter’), ‘Timočanka’ (‘Stanley’ × ‘California Blue’), ‘Mildora’ (‘Large Sugar Prune’ × ‘Čačanska Lepotica’), ‘Krina’ (‘Wangenheims Frühzwetsche’ × ‘Italian Prune’), ‘Zlatka’ (‘Large Sugar Prune’ × ‘Žolta Butilkovidna’), ‘Pozna Plava’ (‘Čačanska Najbolja’ × ‘Čačanska Najbolja’), and ‘Nada’ (‘Stanley’ × ‘Scoldus’). In addition to these cultivars, a detailed study on a large number of promising hybrids is also carried out. Three promising hybrids: ‘XIV/21’ (‘California Blue’ × ‘Ruth Gerstetter’), ‘10/23/87’ (‘Stanley’ × ‘Čačanska Rana’) and ‘26/54/87’ (‘Stanley’ × ‘Opal’) are selected due to their fruit quality characteristics, yield performance, and PVV tolerance, and they are currently being studied and evaluated as cultivar candidates. ‘Boranka’, ‘Timočanka’, and Hybrid ‘XIV/21’ are intended for the fresh fruit market, ‘Mildora’ and ‘Krina’ for drying, ‘Zlatka’ for all kinds of processing especially compote, whereas ‘Pozna Plava’, ‘Nada’, and hybrids ‘10/23/87’ and ‘26/54/87’ are suitable both for fresh consumption and drying. All cultivars and hybrids, except ‘Zlatka’, which is characterized by yellow skin, have blue skin with heavy bloom. All cultivars have very good fruit quality, large yield potential, and are tolerant to PVV.