BREEDING CHERRY CULTIVARS WITH ADAPTABILITY TO THE CONDITIONS ON THE SOUTH OF RUSSIA

The paper presents the results of research work on breeding and investigating domestic and introduced cherry cultivars in the conditions of the South of Russia. The characteristic is given to the local cherry cultivars: ‘Kirina’, ‘Krasnodarskaya sladkaya’, ‘Kazachka’, ‘Nostra’, ‘Alexa’ and ‘Kubanochka’ created in recent years, applying methods of interspecifi and intervarietal hybridization and mutagenesis. The main directions of cherry breeding in the conditions of southern horticulture are adaptability (resistance to coccomicosis and monilia, drought and winter hardiness), fruitfulness (early maturity, crop yield) and fruits quality (size and weight). The paper also informs about the effiiency of the directed breeding based on applying different methods to breed stone fruits, which made it possible to create cherry cultivars of a new generation with a complex of the set signs. First of all, these include resistance to the dominating diseases (coccomicosis and monilia), heat- and drought-resistance, which is very important in the southern conditions of cherry cultivation, and high productivity and fruits quality. Based on the results of the breeding work, two cherry cultivars bred in the North-Caucasian Zonal Research Institute of Horticulture and Viticulture – ‘Kirina’ and ‘Krasnodarskaya sladkaya’ standing out for high fruits quality and productivity were included into the State register of Breeding Achievements of the Russian Federation. Cultivars of different maturing terms were transferred to the State Cultivar-testing across North Caucasus region: early – ‘Alexa’, ‘Kazachka’, middle – ‘Kubanochka’ and a cultivar of a late maturing term ‘Nostra’. ‘Alexa’ cultivar has received a patent.