Pear genetic resources in the Czech Republic

The Czech Republic is a centre of cultivation and diversity of many fruit species including pear.
From the point of view of human diet, pear provides a delicious fruit, which is rich in sugars and minerals.
There are 135 pear cultivars in the germplasm collection of the Research and Breeding Institute of Pomology Holovousy Ltd (RBIPH). Cultivars grown in the RBIPH field collection are evaluated for phenological, yield and fruit characteristics, including sensory evaluation, every year.
Results of these evaluations provide an overview about features and advantages of particular pear cultivars.
Old pear landraces represent especially valuable genetic material, which should be preserved for future generations.
Collection of pear landraces especially from areas with minimal damage caused by human activities has been on-going since 1994. In situ conserved cultivars were registered in maps and localized by GPS navigation.
Grafts were taken from important genotypes and these accessions were transferred to germplasm of RBIPH for evaluation.
On-farm plantations, which also include pear trees, were established to preserve landraces in particular areas.
Trees in on-farm plantations are cultivated as high-stem on seedling rootstocks with ´Hardy´ pear as an interstem.
Based on obtained results, pear genetic resources valuable for future breeding programmes are described in this work.

XIV EUCARPIA Symposium on Fruit Breeding and Genetics

F. Paprstein, J. Sedlak, V. Holubec

genotypes, landraces, germplasm

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2017.1172.46