"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.
17 Sep 2024
According to the recent report from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the 2024/25 season will see an increase in production in some fruit-growing regions due to above-average rainfall. Cherry production is expected to increase by 8% and exports by 25%.
22 Sep 2025
Sun World and Pairwise announce a joint venture to develop the first pitless cherry. By combining advanced genetics with innovative breeding technology, the project aims to deliver premium fruit that is more sustainable, flavorful, and convenient for consumers worldwide.
29 Jul 2026
UPA-UCE and Asaja urge the Extremadura government to launch an emergency plan for cherry growers in northern Cáceres after storms caused losses above €20 million, destroyed harvests, cut farm income below production costs and exposed major gaps in crop insurance today.
29 Jul 2026
In the United Kingdom, BeeSAM2 combines artificial intelligence and computer vision to detect bee visits to cherry blossoms with high accuracy, reducing manual analysis while improving research into pollination, fruit set, crop stability and orchard productivity.
