Excellent prospects from INIA's Chilean cherry breeding program

10 Feb 2025
2730

We are pleased to publish in our magazine the interview of Dr. PhD José Quero Garcia (JQG), esteemed French researcher from INRAE and authoritative member of the scientific committee of Cherry Times, with the Chilean researcher Dr. José Manuel Donoso (JMD) of INIA Rayantué.

 JQG. For how long have you been a sweet cherry breeder? 

JMD. I initiated as assistant breeder this work in 2009, then I was for four years, between 2010 and 2014, in the Pere Arús's team doing my PhD. After that I become the program manager until now.

What are the main goals of your program? 

Mostly similar to the majority of sweet cherry breeding programs: size, firmness, taste, color, post-harvest life, stalk characteristics, cracking tolerance, fruit maturity, production precocity (or length of juvenility period), productivity and self-fertility (in particular in the extremely early flowering hybrids) but the Chilean program has the particularity additionally of low chill genetics and ultra-early maturity time. At the same time, we are starting research activities on the sensitivity to bacterial canker, in collaboration with Dr. Boris Sagredo...

Want to access the full interview? Sign up for our free Cherry Times newsletter! This is the only way to receive each new article from this column directly in your inbox and stay updated with high-quality advice and analysis. Don't miss this unique opportunity!

Sign up for the Cherry Times newsletter for free!


Cherry Times - All rights reserved

What to read next

Turkish exporter Alanar focuses marketing on own production

Markets

14 Mar 2025

The decision was motivated by the desire to have more control over product quality and to reduce financial risks. "We will no longer buy fruit as in the past," said Gökyigit.

Decade-long study identifies more than one million polymorphisms on cherry genome

Breeding

24 Nov 2023

Phenotypic diversity was assessed from 2012 to 2020, revealing significant variability in several traits. A total of 1,767,106 single nucleotide polymorphisms were discovered, providing a detailed genetic map.

In evidenza

The genes that determine the colour and size of cherries

Breeding

17 Apr 2026

A study on sweet cherry grown in Northern Greece examines transcription factors PaWRKY57 and PaNAC29, highlighting their key role in fruit growth, color development and in the molecular mechanisms regulating ripening in non-climacteric fruit species.

A study reveals that the rootstock-variety combination is key to increasing drought tolerance in cherry trees

Rootstocks

17 Apr 2026

CEAF research shows that rootstock and variety combinations influence drought tolerance in cherry trees in Chile, where rainfall is sharply declining. The study highlights strategies to improve water use efficiency and irrigation management in extreme climate conditions.

Tag Popolari