ERAB Kaki, a database for collecting and managing persimmon breeding data and its application to the assessment of breeding progress

Fruit tree breeding data must be managed intensively.
In the national persimmon breeding program in Japan, breeding data – such as phenotype and selection process – are recorded by hand and laboriously digitized and organized into spreadsheets.
To reduce this effort, we updated a database developed for apple.
This system, the Electronic Record Assistant for Breeding (ERAB), allows breeders to input phenotypic data directly on a tablet, and to easily view a summary of phenotype segregation of the population containing an individual being evaluated.
Multiple breeders can use the host file simultaneously, and the input data are immediately updated in the database, which holds records of over 23,000 individuals produced since 1968. These up-to-date data can be exported in spreadsheet format for further analysis.
As one use, here we summarize the changes in phenotypic values of a crossbred population from the 1970s to the 2010s.
We plotted the percentages of individuals reaching the target values of nine traits.
Improvements over 18 original cultivars were observed in eight traits other than fruit weight.
Four traits (fruit apex crack, fruit calyx crack, stained skin, and flesh hardness) clearly showed gradual improvement over time, whereas four others (juiciness, soluble solids content, astringency, and ripening time) did not.
These results not only confirmed the progress of persimmon breeding, but also provide basic data for reconsidering breeding strategies.
Overall, this work demonstrates that ERAB Kaki enables labor-saving management and effective data application for persimmon breeding.

IV Asian Horticultural Congress – AHC2023

N. Onoue, S. Moriya, R. Matsuzaki, T. Shimizu, T. Ueno, T. Saito

app, field book, FileMaker, fruit tree, tablet

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2024.1404.16