Good Fruit Grower

June 1

Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/132109

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 21 of 47

New Varieties With the advent of dwarfing cherry rootstocks to improve productivity, self-fertility is no longer considered essential in a new cherry cultivar. by Geraldine Warner S ummerland cherry breeder Dr. Cheryl Hampson's objective is to develop cherries that are large, firm, and sweet, have good stems, and are productive. For the past 50 years, the focus of the program has been on developing self-fertile varieties. Hampson still prefers new varieties to be self-fertile, but if a cultivar has other great attributes, it's not essential, she says. "If we continue to adopt dwarfing rootstocks, the nonself-fertile varieties can be quite productive on those rootstocks." Whereas self-fertile varieties on some of the smaller rootstocks can overcrop and produce small fruit, the nonself-fertile varieties might be a good fit. "I feel nervous about throwing away everything that's Photo courtesy of Pico Summerland's FOCUS SWITCHES Sofia, a large midseason cherry that matures between Van and Lapins, was released under trademark in Europe this year. not self-fertile because in ten years we might want that," she said. Early varieties The cherry breeding program, which is based at the Pacific Agri-Food Research Center, began in 1936 with the goal of developing cherries with the characteristics of Bing or Lambert that matured earlier, were more resistant to rain cracking, and could be used as pollinizers for those cultivars. However, the program has produced more latematuring cherries than early ones. Dr. David Lane, breeder from 1974 to 1994, said earlymaturing cherries have fewer days on the tree to grow and accumulate carbohydrates, and it proved very difficult to develop early cherry varieties that had high production and fruit quality comparable with later varieties. To date, the program has released 35 cherry cultivars. Some, such as Lapins, Sweetheart, and Skeena, are widely grown. Not all have been commercial successes, however. Frank Kappel, breeder from 1994 to 2011, said it's hard to tell before they are released how well they will perform when grown in larger quantities and run across packing lines. "You don't get a good feel for that at the breeding program," he said. One of the reasons that the Lapins cherry caught on was the willingness of a group of Canadian growers to plant it and work with it. "I think part of the success of the program has always been that we've had innovative growers here who've taken these varieties and run with them," he said. "It was a combination of the varieties and these innovative growers that saw the potential." Lynn Long, Oregon State University Extension educator based in The Dalles, said the program's cherries have been extremely important to growers in the Northwest who, previously, focused on one variety—Bing. "It was really the success of the Canadian growers with Lapins that gave people in Oregon, and I think also in Washington, the confidence to plant another variety besides Bing," he said. "The fact that we were travelling and seeing that growers in other parts of the world, like Spain and Germany, were also using these cherries just reinforced in the minds of the Northwest growers that this was a good step to take." Mildew resistance While Kappel was breeder, the program began looking at incorporating powdery mildew resistance and has been working with Dr. Paul Wiersma, a molecular biologist at Summerland, to develop genetic markers for the trait. Hampson said the emphasis is on finding resistance in late-maturing varieties, which are the most vulnerable to the disease. Her sources of resistance are not the same as used by Washington State University's breeding program. Hampson is using the resistant Hedelfingen and Moreau cherries as parents for crosses. She's been evaluating a cross of Lapins and Moreau that has mildew resistance, but when it began to fruit, it was too sour and soft to be a commercial variety. The next step is to backcross it with a variety that has good fruit quality, but that's going to take time. LARGE CHERRY given open release A new, exceptionally large cherry variety trademarked Suite Note was released last year by the Summerland breeding program in British Columbia, Canada. Access to the variety is not restricted, even outside Canada. The red cherry is a cross of a numbered selection that has Stella in its heritage and the B.C. variety Summit. However, it is not self-fertile. It is in pollination group XIII (S2S4) and blooms late. The fruit ripens midseason, about the same time as Bing (around July 10 at Summerland). It is kidney to heart shaped with dark red skin and a long stem. Average fruit weight is more than 12 grams, making it similar in size to Sonata. Suite Note is available in Canada and the United States in limited quantities. Sofia This year, another Summerland cherry called Sofia was released under trademark in Europe. Cherry breeder Dr. Cheryl Hampson said it's a large, midseason 22 June 2013 GOOD FRUIT GROWER cherry that matures between Van and Lapins (around July 16 at Summerland). It is not exceptionally firm, but it is self-fertile, very productive, and usually has a low percentage of rain splitting. It could be a good choice for backyard growers as well as commercial orchardists in some parts of Europe. It has elicited some interest in Spain, which supplies cherries in some markets of Europe. Sofia is being tested in Canada. It will not be available for testing in the United States until virus-free material is available. Summerland cherries are commercialized by the Okanagan Plant Improvement Corporation (PICO), which is owned by the B.C. Fruit Growers' Association. John Kingsmill, PICO's general manager, said that because the breeding program is run by the government, Canadian growers have free access to any variety it releases. They pay only tree royalties even on varieties that are under restricted release in other parts of the world, where they may be subject to license fees and production royalties. —G. Warner www.goodfruit.com

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of Good Fruit Grower - June 1