APRICOT BREEDING PROGRAMME FOR LATE AND VERY LATE RIPENING PERIOD IN ROMANIA

Abstract

The Research Station for Fruit Growing Constanta started a large apricot improvement programme in 1971, with the following objectives: extension of the harvesting season in order to obtain cultivars with late ripening as well as cultivars with early or very early ripening period. Many crosses were performed using genitors such as: Kets Pshor, Tudor, Marc.18/2, Olimp, Marc.9/5 and many other apricot hybrids, some of them for late blooming and ripening period, and others for their fruit qualities. In this paper we describe three new late maturing apricot cultivars named HISTRIA, EUXIN and AUGUSTIN ripening in the first half of August and some hybrids ripening between the end of August or the first ten days of September, namely: V.T.94.01.03 (20 th August); V.T.94.01.21 (25 th August); V.T.94.01.13 (11 th September). The new cultivars are: HISTRIA (Worley's peach x Sulmona hybrid), late blooming, self-fertile with late ripening (8-15 August); EUXIN (R30P662 (Marc.18/2 x Olimp) x R41P62 (Marc.16/7 × Marc.73/9)), medium blooming period, self-fertile, with late ripening (6-14 August); AUGUSTIN (Marc.9/5 x Sulmona), medium blooming period, self-fertile with late maturity (10-15 August) and highly productive.