The systematic Sweet Cherry Breeding in Germany dates to the first work of R. Nebel and C.F. Rudloff in Müncheberg in 1928. After the Second World War, this work was continued by M. Schmidt in Müncheberg until 1955.
In 1953 E.L. Loewel, E.v. Vahl and F.-G. Zahn started a new breeding program in Jork. As a result, the cultivars 'Alma', 'Annabella', 'Bianca', 'Erika', 'Oktavia', 'Regina', 'Valeska', and 'Viola' were selected. From 1985 to 1999 the program was continued by H. Schmidt in Ahrensburg.
A second breeding programme was started in Naumburg by H. Mihatsch and M. Fischer in 1958 and continued in Dresden-Kauscha from 1971 to 1990. The released cultivars from this program are 'Namare', 'Namosa', 'Naprumi', 'Namati', and 'Nadino'. After both breeding programs were terminated, the plant material was transferred to Dresden-Pillnitz, where sweet cherry breeding has been continued by M. Schuster since 2001.
Seven new cultivars have already been released: 'Narana', Swing® 'PiSue 192', 'Habunt', 'Areko', 'Polka', Aria® 'PiSue 161', and 'PiSue 177'. Nineteen new promising breeding clones are currently under multi-site testing and approximately 100 clones are in stage II evaluation. The main breeding objectives are fruit quality, like size, firmness, sugar content, high productivity, self-fertility, and high resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses.
Image 1: Ripening time - JKI sweet cherry cultivars in comparison to cultivars 'Burlat', 'Kordia', and 'Regina'.
Mirko Schuster
Institute for Breeding Research on Fruit Crops, Julius Kühn-Institut (JKI) – Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants, D-01326 Dresden (DE)
14 Jun 2024
Statewide surveys were conducted in Oregon sweet cherry orchards for virus and virus-like diversity and distribution. A subsequent survey was conducted in the Mid-Columbia production region for the presence of little cherry symptoms associated with little cherry and X-Diseases.
06 Feb 2024
Sweet cherry growers in central and eastern Washington faced devastating challenges throughout the 2023 season. Unusual weather patterns caused growers losses of more than 50%, according to the United State Department of Agriculture.
21 Nov 2024
A Chinese study analyzed the effects of five different rootstocks on Summit sweet cherry cultivar during the fruit veraison phase with or without nitrogen-free nutrient fertilizers. The five rootstocks tested were: Mahaleb, Gisela 5, and three hybrid selections H11, H17, and H22.
21 Nov 2024
Given its direct influence on other indices such as flavor and firmness, this time we will analyze color, from the perspective of homogenization in the final product, the high percentage of light-colored fruit, and the high percentage of dark-colored fruit.
