The university of California Prunus domestica cultivar development program
2013
Castro, S. | DeBuse, C.J. | DeJong, T.M.
The University of California Dried Plum/Prune Cultivar Development Program was founded in 1985 by Dr. Theodore DeJong of University California, Davis (UCD) and Jim Doyle of the UC Kearney Agricultural Center (KAC) in Parlier, CA. Over the last 27 years, the program has used traditional breeding methods to improve the germplasm for the development of new Prunus domestica cultivars for California. Dr. DeJong, Carolyn DeBuse and Sarah Castro currently manage the program at UC Davis. Annual hand pollinations involve >20,000 controlled crosses per season and from these, 1,000-2,000 seedlings are produced. Of the approximate 10,000 trees located in the seedling blocks at any one time, about twenty genotypes are selected for further study each year. Evaluations of advanced selections are conducted at two locations, one in the Sacramento Valley and the other in the central San Joaquin Valley. The prune industry in California is dependent on a single cultivar ('Improved French') and the primary goal of the program has been to develop new cultivars that can improve crop production/processing efficiency and extend the harvest season. To date the program has released two prune cultivars ('Muir Beauty' and 'Sutter') that ripen fourteen and seven days earlier (respectively) than 'Improved French'. However the industry has had difficulty in adapting these two cultivars to their handling and processing practices. The program has also released 'Tulare Giant', a large, early, fresh market plum cultivar that has been very successful. Program goals and desired characteristics of advanced selections have evolved over time as the California dried plum industry has experienced increased pressure for improving production efficiencies and cutting costs.
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