New peach cultivars by Nikita Botanical Gardens with high resistance to leaf curl (Taphrina deformans Tul.)

Breeding of cultivars with high resistance to leaf curl is one of the most important tasks of peach breeding in Nikita Botanical Gardens. Fruit-growing needs peach cultivars with high resistance to this disease to obtain stable yields without using pesticides. Each year, from 2008 to 2015, 30 new cultivars were evaluated for resistance to Taphrina deformans Tul. Thanks to long lasting monitoring the cultivars with reduced susceptibility to leaf curl – less than 25% leaves affected – have been selected. The most interesting among them are dessert cultivars ‘Krymskiy Shedevr’ and ‘Lakomiy’, which are recommended for industrial cultivation in southern Russia, especially in the Crimea. The cultivar ‘Krymskiy Shedevr’ was obtained by in vitro method from the half-grown embryo received by crossing the cultivars ‘Valiant’ and ‘Favourita Morettini’. Fruits ripen from July 10 to 20. They are medium to large (110-160 g), wide-oval in shape, slightly asymmetric. The fruit is medium fuzzy, with dark red colour covering 50-75% of the fruit surface. The flesh is yellow, fibrous, with a balanced sour-sweet taste. The stone is medium size, clingstone. Content of sugars are 9.7%, titrable acids – 0.7%, vitamin С – 8.7%. The peach cultivar ‘Lakomiy’ was obtained by crossing the cultivars ‘Red Haven’ and ‘Kudesnik’. From early to medium ripening term (from July 20 to 30), fruit is wide-oval in shape and medium-sized (110-140 g). The fruit is medium fuzzy, with dark red colour covering to 75% of the fruit surface. The flesh is yellow, fibrous, juicy with a tasty combination of sugar and acid. The stone is medium size, clingstone. Content of sugars are 11.4%, titrable acids – 0.6%, vitamin С – 7.3%. The above mentioned cultivars are characterized by high resistance to leaf curl and by high quality fruits. These advantages make them very suitable for integrated fruit production and for home gardening conditions.