Blackcurrant (Ribes nigrum L.) breeding and achievements at the National Institute of Horticultural Research in Skierniewice, Poland

A new and modern applied breeding program of blackcurrant (Ribes nigrum L.) has been conducted at the Department of Horticultural Crop Breeding of the National Institute of Horticultural Research (InHort) in Skierniewice, Poland for 35 years. It is financed from the state budget by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. This program includes breeding for resistance, fruit quality and adaptation. Newly bred cultivars should be characterized by high productivity, good suitability for various methods of fruit management (processing, freezing, fresh consumption), good adaptation to the Polish climatic and soil conditions and various cultivation technologies NDASH processing cultivars for picking fruits by different harvesters and dessert cultivars for trellising crop cultivation. In addition, new cultivars should be less susceptible or resistant to the most dangerous diseases and pests. The traditional crossing (hybridization) method is applied in the breeding program. During the 35 years of blackcurrant breeding work, 10 cultivars (‘Tisel’, ‘Tiben’, ‘Ores’, ‘Ruben’, ‘Tines’, ‘Gofert’, ‘Polares’, ‘Tihope’, ‘Polben’ and ‘Polonus’) were released and registered into the national list of cultivars in the Research Centre for Cultivar Testing, COBORU (http://www.coboru.gov.pl/index_en). First nine of these cultivars have also been covered by Community protection law at the Community Plant Variety Office, Angers, France, CPVO (https://cpvo.europa.eu/en) within the territory of the EU countries. In addition, three cultivars (‘Gofert’, ‘Polares’ and ‘Tihope’) obtained the plant patent in the US in 2016. Polish blackcurrant cultivars have gained great recognition among Polish and foreign growers. The available data show that the share of Polish cultivars in commercial plantations in our country is currently over 80%. Blackcurrant cultivars bred at the InHort in Skierniewice and implemented for the fruit production are an important carrier of biological progress, which contribute to possess the high position and competitiveness of Polish horticulture while maintaining environmental protection requirements and the principles of safe food production, in accordance with the current EU regulations.