"The super millionaire fruits of the Alma Mater": this is how Corriere della Sera headlined years ago when announcing the results obtained by researchers from the Department of Agri-food Sciences and Technologies of the University of Bologna on the cherry tree genetic improvement project: the seven Sweet® sisters, the new varieties named after the children or loved ones of their inventors.
A team led by Stefano Lugli who, starting from old indigenous varieties, the famous Duroni di Vignola, bearers of valuable traits such as sweetness, texture and aroma, has been able to combine these virtues with others, such as beauty, size and productivity, taking them from varieties of American origin.
Below, the report by Bettina Riedel, variety manager of UNIBO, presented at the seminar on cherry variety innovation at Macfrut 2023. Precisely at Macfrut, ten years ago, the Sweet® varieties made their debut winning, among others, the Oscar prize for innovation.
31 Oct 2023
Poland is one of the leading fruit producers, with a per capita production of 146 kg of fruit. Among the cultivated species, the production of sour cherries stands out, reaching 183 thousand tonnes in 2022, making it one of the largest producers in the world.
05 Jan 2026
On 24 December, a local fruit grower explained that this year the trees were subjected to forced dormancy and heating earlier than usual, resulting in the cherries ripening about 10 days earlier than in previous years.
28 Aug 2026
In Alicante, pre-harvest 24-BL treatments reduced sweet cherry cracking by up to 50% while improving fruit size, firmness, red color and anthocyanin content. Tests on ‘Sunburst’ and ‘Skeena’ suggest a promising strategy to protect orchards from extreme rainfall events.
28 Aug 2026
In Nishikawa, Yamagata Prefecture, robots, drones and sensors promise to support winter sakura growers. Yet an aging workforce, depopulation and mistrust of technology reveal how uncertain the future of Japanese agriculture remains despite smart farming investments.
