"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.
09 Jan 2024
At the last Cherry Expo, ANA Chile researchers reported on the behaviour of some new early cherry varieties in Chile. Below are the main technical indications for producers and exporters that emerged during the Chilean symposium.
06 Mar 2024
The Fondecyt 2024 project, assigned by Professor Eduardo Fernández, will be implemented nationwide, with around 40 orchards and also with consultants and research centres related to the topic, creating a collaboration strategy directly applicable to their orchards.
30 Jan 2026
A new study from Turkey explores sweet cherry grafting compatibility using advanced tools like PCA, Random Forest and SHAP. Gisela 6 and local genotypes show promising integration for improved selection methods in cherry cultivation and rootstock choice.
30 Jan 2026
Chilean cherries face a tough 2026 season in China: early varieties, quality issues, and a late Lunar New Year impact demand and prices. Insights from Joy Wing Mau Group and outlook for alternative Asian markets like Vietnam, Taiwan, South Korea and Singapore.
