GERM PLASM OF APRICOTS AND SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR ITS USE

To this number we must add a great many hybrid selections, local varieties and seedling pouplations.

Among the 1750 varieties reported, approximately 542 varieties have been introduced during the last 35 to 40 years. This demonstrates how great a commitment of interest that research has been given to this species.

However, apricots only make up about 0.6% of the worlds' fruit production (FAO, 1983).

Also, the harvest is very variable from year to year even in countries like Italy, USSR, Spain and Greece, where apricots have an important place among the fruit species grown.

The obstacle which stands in the way of spreading the culture of apricots is the limited ability of the existing varieties to adapt to new ecological conditions.

This limited ability to adapt is largely the result of the development of apricots under very specific ecological conditions in each region, which has permitted the development of a high level of homozygosity through frequent self and/or sib-pollination during a very long period of time.

Ambitious programs of breeding performed by dedicated research workers have contributed to the diversification and to the enrichment of the varieties available for production and they have given the initial material for continuing progress. These breeding programs have been reported by: Kostina, 1977; Smykov and Solohov, 1981; and Fedchenkova, 1981 in USSR: Hough and Bailey, 1981 and

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