THE SYSTEM OF INTRODUCTION AND TESTING OF FRUIT CROPS IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA

Cultivars are decisive factors in modern fruit growing, because they are the most important intensifying factors for increasing yield and for solving many fruit growing problems.
Variety trials are a component in evaluating new cultivars and their significance increases simultaneously with breeding development.

Great attention has been paid to the study and introduction of new cultivars in the Czech and Slovak countries in the past.
Since the 18th century large cultivar collections have been established with cultivars drawn from the whole of Europe.
Greatest attention in fruit growing has been paid to cultivar study – pomography.
Thousands of cultivars from abroad have been collected and a large number of autochton original varieties have been gathered into the collections.
Almost all the varieties studied have been described and pictured in a number of publications.
Czechoslovak fruit breeding and the system of variety tests connected with the tradition is one of the best systems in Europe.
Some 879 cultivars are being tested in varietal trials at present in nine breeding stations in different ecological areas of Czechoslovakia.

If we compare the percentage of Czechoslovakian and foreign cultivars, 78.5 % have been introduced from abroad and 21.5 % are new cultivars bred in Czechoslovakia /Table 1/.

Results obtained from variety teste have a significant influence on the Czechoslovakian list of registered cultivars.
According to Czechoslovakian law only cultivars registered in the List may be propagated and grown.
More than 50 of all the cultivars grown have been changed during the last 30 years.

Fruit Breeding

J. Kalá¿ek

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1988.224.8