BREEDING OF PLUMS, PRUNES AND MIRABELLES IN GEISENHEIM, GERMANY: BREEDING GOALS AND PREVIOUS REALISATION

ISHS Acta Horticulturae 577: VII International Symposium on Plum and Prune Genetics, Breeding and Pomology

BREEDING OF PLUMS, PRUNES AND MIRABELLES IN GEISENHEIM, GERMANY: BREEDING GOALS AND PREVIOUS REALISATION

Author:	H.B. Jacob
Keywords:	European plums, prunes, mirabelles, new cultivars, maturity time
Abstract: Breeding work of plums, prunes and mirabelles of the European range of variation was initiated more than 20 years ago and since then continuous further developed. The common breeding goals have been and still being: Market suitability and quality, productivity and yield stability, immunity against plum pox, climatic robustness as well as the suitability of the fruits for different purposes. The aspired variety spectrum shall contain all maturity groups from very early ripening (end of June) to very late ripening (middle of October). There are developed five variety series with the following characters: (1) Blue varieties with the ideal sizes for the market: 34-38 mm. This group involves the varieties TOPFIVE (4. - 6. plum week), TOPKING (8. - 9. plum week), TOPPER (11. - 13. plum week) and TOP - TOP 2000 (12. - 14. plum week) so far. (2) Blue, big sized varieties with the dimension 40-50 mm (60 - 80 g). Out of this group the variety TOPHIT (12. - 16. plum week) is formed. (3) Plums with the colour nuances yellow, red and violet. The variety RHEINGOLD (5. - 8. plum week) belongs to this collection. (4) Special varieties for manufacturing industry like distillation, canned fruits etc. (5) Big sized mirabelles for the fresh market and the processing industry. The varieties BELLAMIRA (5. - 7. plum week) and MIRAGRANDE (9. - 11. plum week) are members of this group so far. In future the breeding work in Geisenheim will be focused intensify on plum pox resistance and immunity based on investigation and inclusion of molecular marker in the conventional combined breeding.
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