Institut für Züchtungsforschung an Obst
The partly low genetic diversity in cherry cultivars has led to a reduced adaptability to changing cultivation and climatic conditions in recent decades. In individual fruit breeding programmes, interspecific hybridisations have therefore been used to increase genetic diversity and to integrate new traits into fruit crops. In the cherry breeding programme in Dresden-Pillnitz, various interspecific crosses as well as backcrosses have been carried out over the last 20 years. In the case of the sweet cherry, P. avium, crosses have been made with P. canescens, P. armeniaca and P. tomentosa and in the case of the sour cherry with P. maackii, P. padus, P. serotina and P. spinosa. The objectives of this breeding programmes are to develop and to evaluate genotypes with new fruit and tree traits and higher resistance to biotic and abiotic stress. The project focuses on investigations of F1 interspecific hybrids of sweet cherry x apricot and first progeny of backcrosses (F2) to questions of fertility, resistance to abiotic and biotic pests and fruit traits. First evaluations showed in the first years of growth of the F1-hybrids a high tolerance of the flowers against spring frost as well as interesting fruit characteristics like size, firmness and storability. Interesting genotypes will be incorporated into the breeding process or directly in the fruit-growing sector.
Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture
