Could the plum cultivar ‘Nada’ achieve the global importance seen in earlier cultivars from the Fruit Research Institute, Č a č ak?

Abstract

The domestic plum (Prunus domestica L.) breeding program at the Fruit Research Institute, Čačak began in the early 1950s, shortly after the establishment of the Institute in 1946. The primary impetus for initiating plum breeding efforts was the rapid decline of the cultivar ‘Požegača’, prevalent in Serbia during that period, attributed to the emergence of the Sharka virus. The aim was to develop a new cultivar that would be qualitatively similar to ‘Požegača’ while simultaneously exhibiting tolerance to this virus. Although a new cultivar closely resembling ‘Požegača’ was not achieved, several cultivars were developed, becoming pivotal in plum production for subsequent decades in southeastern and central European countries. Notably, cultivars such as ‘Čačanska Lepotica’, ‘Čačanska Rodna’, ‘Čačanska Najbolja’ and ‘Čačanska Rana’ became essential for establishing new orchards and were widely employed as parent cultivars in numerous plum breeding programmes. In an attempt to preserve the acquired legacy, despite significantly diminished resources in the 1990s and early 2000s, the plum breeding efforts persisted. As a result, seven new cultivars were developed, with the cultivar ‘Nada’ standing out for its distinctive characteristics. Subsequently, there was a sustained increase in interest among producers in Serbia for cultivating this cultivar. During the seven-year period (2017-2023), we compared the cultivar ‘Nada’ with ‘Čačanska Lepotica’ and ‘Stanley’, considered the most important cultivars in Serbia, focusing on their key productive characteristics. On average, ‘Nada’ exhibited a larger fruit weight and superior fruit physical characteristics compared to the control cultivars. Additionally, this cultivar displayed intermediate tree vigour, but also the lowest yield among the examined cultivars. Concerning the chemical properties of the fruit, ‘Nada’ generally demonstrated intermediate values, typically surpassing those of ‘Čačanska Lepotica’ and falling short of ‘Stanley’, as expected due to the sequence of ripening time of the observed cultivars.

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