HISTORICAL ASPECTS OF BREEDING STUDIES ON FRUIT, SUBTROPICAL, NUT-BEARING CROPS AND TEA PLANT

The paper describes historical aspects and directions of breeding research development for the period since Sochi Experimental Agricultural and Garden Station was founded (1894) to the present. Much attention is paid to breeding citrus, southern fruit (peach, pawpaw), subtropical (kaki persimmon, feijoa, fig), seed (apple, pear), stone (common plum), as well as nut crops (hazelnut), tea plant and berry crops (strawberries) in the north of humid subtropics. Thanks to the work of breeders, many promising hybrids and forms have been obtained; the best of them are recorded as cultivars. These cultivars are characterized by good adaptability to local conditions, storage longevity, resistance to abiotic and biotic stressors, high yield, quality indicators of fruits and berries, have high shelf life and transportability and surpass the cultivars introduced in the subtropical zone. Based on the results of a long-term breeding research, scientists have developed and recommended new cultivars for industrial production and amateur gardening: 10 cultivars of tangerine, 3 – kaki persimmon, 3 – feijoa, 3 – pear, 3 – apple, one cultivar of common plum, peach, 10 cultivars of hazelnuts, 7 – tea plant, 4 – pawpaw, 3 – strawberry, 2 – fig, 2 – kiwifruit. At the present stage, Federal Research Centre the Subtropical Scientific Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences (FRC SSC of RAS) has a large and unique collection of subtropical and southern fruit crops, based on which breeding studies are being conducted using both traditional and modern (in vitro, cell selection, DNA labeling) methods.