The genetic improvement programme on the cherry tree at the Julius Kühn-Institut (JKI) has an almost century-long tradition. The first activities were started by M. Schmidt in Müncheberg in the 1930s. Later, M. Zwitzscher continued the project at the Max Planck Institut in Cologne by propagating the varieties Primavera and Sekunda, while E.L. Loewel in Jork selected and propagated a dozen varieties, including Regina.
More recently, in Dresden, M. Fischer started a new breeding programme aimed at self-fertility and resistance to bacterial cancer by Pseudomonas spp, leading to the release of the NA series varieties Namosa, Nadina, Namare and Namati.
Since 2001, the project has been in the hands of M. Schuster at the JKI in Pillnitz. The cherry varieties Narana (ripens with Burlat), Swing® PiSue 192* (+8 Burlat), Polka (+10 Burlat), Aria® PiSue 161 (+14 Burlat), Areko (+17 Burlat), PiSue 177 (+19 Burlat) and Habunt, a two-coloured cherry ripens 20 days after Burlat.
Below the report of Mirko Schuster presented at the workshop on cherry variety innovation at Macfrut 2023.
25 Mar 2024
A recent study analyzed production costs and average margins of the main species in the Emilia-Romagna region. From the comparison it emerges that cherry trees confirm themselves as one of the few fruit species capable of achieving full economic sustainability.
07 Jun 2024
New cherry varieties resilient to climate change were the focus of an interesting episode by Agrilinea TV. In this episode Sauro Angelini, CEO of Agrilinea, interviewed Giacomo Patruno, Luca Fortunato and Marinella Cisternino.
05 Jul 2024
Protecting intellectual property is key to maintaining competitiveness and sustainable growth. Registering brands and packaging in key markets such as China not only protects intangible assets, but also enhances product reputation and quality.
05 Jul 2024
The project was initiated to develop prevention and early detection approaches that can be combined with integrated pest management approaches against these new fruit fly species, particularly for out-of-season fruit production.
