ISHS Acta Horticulturae 384: X International Symposium on Apricot Culture
APRICOT BREEDING IN ITALY |
| Authors: | D. Bassi, E. Bellini, R. Guerriero, F. Monastra, F. Pennone |
| Keywords: | cultivar, seedling, selection |
| Abstract:
The aims, strategies and methods being pursued by the four institutions involved in the apricot breeding project founded by the Italian Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and begun in the early 1980s are reported. Extension of the harvest season, fruit quality improvement, enhanced tolerance to spring frost and brown rot and processing suitability are among the major goals. Standard breeding techniques, i.e. self-pollination, crossing by emasculation and hand pollination, and mutagenesis through ionizing radiation, and almost one hundred parents, more than 50% of Italian origin and around 20% from the USA, have been employed in over 140 combinations to date. Of the over 23 000 seedlings bred since the project's start, 40% have been discarded and 13 000 are still under evaluation. More than 250 seedlings have been selected for further evaluation and around fifty advanced selections are on trial in several environments for possible release. Ten new cultivars have been introduced so far: 'Antonio Errani', 'Cora', 'Dulcinea', 'Giada', 'Maria Matilde', 'Ninfa', 'Noemi', 'Perla', 'Pisana' and 'Venturina'. | |
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