Potential of peach genetic resources in the steppe of Crimea

Nikitsky Botanical Garden (NBG) peach genetic resources, concentrated in the Steppe Horticulture laboratory, contains 834 cultivars and selections, and above 2,000 hybrid seedlings. Peach plantations are in the southern steppe zone of the Crimea, where the climate is relatively favorable for peach culture. Conventional methods were conducted in the studies. Currently, the collection is represented by foreign cultivars of peach and nectarine from USA, Canada, France, Italy, Hungary, Georgia, Moldova, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, etc. The share of domestic cultivars is 43%. In addition, there are clones, forms of local selection, ornamental peach, and samples of an unidentified status. The hybrid fund includes about 20 hybrid families of the first, second and third generations, obtained from crossing and from self-pollination. The study shows that the peach collection is diverse by morphological, biological, and commercial characteristics. The samples presented in the collection include different groups of fruit flush, flower types, different periods of flowering and fruit ripening, various adaptations to abiotic and bio-stressors. As a result of this fund research, peach and nectarine samples are identified and recommended for use in breeding for increasing yields (‘Zolotaya Moskva’, ‘Clown’, ‘Red Haven’, etc.), improving the quality and biochemical composition of fruits (‘Vavilovskiy’, ‘Osvezhayushchiy’, ‘Posol Mira’, etc.), increasing winter hardiness (‘Demerdzhinskiy’, ‘G.Lebedev’, ‘Melitopolskiy Yasnyiy’, ‘Sun Crest’, ‘Hui-Huni-Tao’, ‘С16/87’, ‘Crimchanin’, ‘Vesenniy Ogone’, etc.), drought resistance and tolerance to some diseases (‘С4/147’, ‘Dostoynyiy’ and ‘Crymskiy Sonet’, etc.).