Conservation and use of fruit genetic resources in Lithuania
2013
Gelvonauskis, B. | Labokas, J. | Zilinskaitė, S. | Gelvonauskienė, D. | Česonienė, L.
In Lithuania, the genetic resources of fruit crops are mainly concentrated, preserved and studied at four institutions: the Institute of Horticulture of Lithuanian Centre of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences, the Institute of Botany of Nature Research Centre, Vilnius University Botanical Garden and Kaunas Botanical Garden of Vytautas Magnus University. Cultivars of apples, plums, sour and sweet cherries, black currants and strawberries are conserved at the Institute of Horticulture. There are 1620 accessions of fruit plants in the collections of the Institute. The most numerous is the apple collection with nearly 800 accessions. The genetic resources of fruit plants have been used in different breeding programmes and 85 cultivars were bred. The representatives of wild populations of raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, hawthorns, lingonberries, bog whortleberries, bilberries and cranberries as well as cultivars of American cranberries and blueberries are maintained at the Institute of Botany of the Nature Research Centre (NRC) with a total of 150 accessions. The native populations of fruit and berry plants are also studied in situ, in their original habitats by the NRC. Valuable forms of local origin and cultivars of edible honeysuckle, Japanese quince (Chaenomeles), raspberries, blackberries and grapes are maintained in the field collections of Vilnius University Botanical Garden. These collections contain more than 750 accessions. Rich collections of snowballs, Actinidia, cranberries, highbush blueberries and some others are established in Kaunas Botanical Garden. There are more than 300 cultivars and forms of local origin as well as forms introduced from other countries. The evaluation of accessions (contents of biologically active compounds, vitamins and other substances of berries), suitability to the local climatic conditions, technological aspects of propagation and cultivation and other properties are being studied.
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