Articles
The current situation and prospects for plum culture in Romania
Article number
1450_58
Pages
437 – 444
Language
English
Abstract
In Romania, the plum is the major fruit species which covers acreage of 66,730 ha.
The plum production in 2022 was 665,730 t, Romania holding the 2nd place in the world after China and the first one in Europe.
Although the surface and production are large, the plum culture has certain problems.
One of the biggest problems is determined by Plum pox virus.
Evaluation of the viral status of Romanian plum orchards (old cultivars) showed that the incidence of infection with PPV was 69% and in the young orchards (new cultivars with different origins) was 23.5%. Another problem is caused by climate change.
There was a rise in air temperature from 1969 till 2023, during the first five months of the year, specifically in February, March and April; significant linear relationships show an advance in timing of phenological stages (days from January 1) for the four stages.
For plum trees (‘Tuleu gras’) in the continental climate of Romania, in the last half century, there was an advance of the phenological stages of 19 days for stage 51 (bud swelling), 10 days for stage 53 (bud burst), 12 days for stage 61 (beginning of flowering), and 8 days for stage 69 (end of flowering). This advance had serious implications on the damage caused by late frosts.
For example, in 2017 low temperatures (-4.2°C) during the period of young fruit led to the loss of the harvest in percentage of 92% on ‘Stanley’ and 100% on ‘Centenar’. Regarding the plum training systems, the classic system has been used so far because there are not rootstocks with low vigor.
Some of plum developments prospective in Romania are: to increase acreage plum orchards to 30-35% out of the total area intended to fruit culture; to develop new plum and prune cultivars with resistance to Plum pox virus and climate change, with high fruits quality, for fresh consumption and to develop clonally propagated rootstocks with dwarfing effect on tree vigour.
The plum production in 2022 was 665,730 t, Romania holding the 2nd place in the world after China and the first one in Europe.
Although the surface and production are large, the plum culture has certain problems.
One of the biggest problems is determined by Plum pox virus.
Evaluation of the viral status of Romanian plum orchards (old cultivars) showed that the incidence of infection with PPV was 69% and in the young orchards (new cultivars with different origins) was 23.5%. Another problem is caused by climate change.
There was a rise in air temperature from 1969 till 2023, during the first five months of the year, specifically in February, March and April; significant linear relationships show an advance in timing of phenological stages (days from January 1) for the four stages.
For plum trees (‘Tuleu gras’) in the continental climate of Romania, in the last half century, there was an advance of the phenological stages of 19 days for stage 51 (bud swelling), 10 days for stage 53 (bud burst), 12 days for stage 61 (beginning of flowering), and 8 days for stage 69 (end of flowering). This advance had serious implications on the damage caused by late frosts.
For example, in 2017 low temperatures (-4.2°C) during the period of young fruit led to the loss of the harvest in percentage of 92% on ‘Stanley’ and 100% on ‘Centenar’. Regarding the plum training systems, the classic system has been used so far because there are not rootstocks with low vigor.
Some of plum developments prospective in Romania are: to increase acreage plum orchards to 30-35% out of the total area intended to fruit culture; to develop new plum and prune cultivars with resistance to Plum pox virus and climate change, with high fruits quality, for fresh consumption and to develop clonally propagated rootstocks with dwarfing effect on tree vigour.
Publication
Authors
M. Butac, M. Coman, E. Chițu, C. Plopa
Keywords
plum culture, problems, climate change, PPV, perspectives
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