The first experiences with cherry breeding at the VSUO in Holouvosy in the Czech Republic date back to the late 1960s. The main variety selected from this programme is Kordia, which in recent years has become one of the world's leading varieties in the medium-late ripening period, mainly due to its high fruit quality standards.
The primary objectives of the WSUO programme are cherry quality (size, texture and colour), resistance to cracking and rot, shelf life and plant productivity. MAS technologies are used in the breeding programme for the early selection of genotypes on several traits: self-fertility, spring frost resistance, drought and climate change tolerance and low chilling requirements.
WSUO, besides Kordia, has commercially propagated 28 cherry varieties. The best known are Early Korvik, Christiana, Felicita, Irena, Justyna, Kasandra, Tamara, Techlovan, Tim and Vanda.
Below is the report of Lubor Zelený, cherry breeding project manager at WSUO in Holouvosy, presented at the workshop on cherry variety innovation at Macfrut 2023.
18 Jul 2023
On Thursday 29 June, an unprecedented technical event took place at the Sun Monticello Conference Centre: Cherry Tech 2023 brought together more than a thousand people who actively participated in the three masterclasses.
04 Oct 2024
UNITEC technologies provide a decisive solution for the industry. Advanced systems like Cherry Vision 3.0 and 3.5 AI have revolutionized the way cherries are selected and sorted thanks to the use of artificial intelligence.
23 Jun 2026
The study on 0900 Ziraat sweet cherries shows that calcium chloride, glycine betaine and chitosan can reduce fruit cracking to 1.6%, while improving resistance, nutritional quality, antioxidant activity and pre-harvest fruit stability under orchard conditions in trials.
23 Jun 2026
The first PDO picota cherries from Valle del Jerte have received seasonal certification. In Extremadura, the campaign begins with strong prospects for quality and volume, despite rain damage affecting some cherry varieties protected by the Cereza del Jerte PDO label.
