PROMISING APRICOT HYBRIDS WITH EARLY AND VERY EARLY RIPENING

• 1949–1956 stage, the main objective being the breeding of varieties with late blooming and long winter rest period;
• 1957–1970 stage, having as main objective - the breeding of varieties resistant to frost and with late ripening;
• 1970–1983 stage, the breeding of varieties with early and very early ripening resistant to diseases and frost.

In the first stage the main parents were the widespread varieties at that time: Luizet, Hungarian Best and Tîrzii de Bucuresti and the character parents (for late blooming): De Silistra and Re Umberto varieties (Cociu, 1962). The hybrids obtained in this period did not meet the requirements and therefore non was extended into production.

In the second stage the most valuable hybrids in F₁ were used making self-pollinations, hybridizations of STB type, backcrosses to one of the parents or with a different one, reciprocal hybridization of the best hybrids in F₁, etc.

In this period the best results were achieved with 13 new apricot varieties: Mamaia, Venus, Neptun, Saturn, Sulina, Silvana, Selena, Sirena, Sulmona, Callatis, Olimp, Litoral and Comandor. They belong to the assortment of the main apricot areas in Romania, the majority having a late or very late ripening, thus prolonging the consumption period by 20–25 days compared to Hungarian Best variety (Cociu, 1982).

Download Adobe Acrobat Reader (free software to read PDF files)