Articles
SWEET CHERRY GENOTYPE RESEARCH CONSORTIUM – AN INTERDISCIPLINARY EVALUATION PROJECT
The majority of fresh and processing production is based on ‘Bing’ and ‘Napoleon’, respectively, both grown on non-precocious, full-size rootstocks.
Interest is increasing for diversifying cultivar production and utilizing precocious, dwarfing rootstocks for higher density orchards.
Many new cultivars and rootstocks developed internationally have yet to be evaluated in the U.S. Such germplasm is frequently introduced commercially without the benefit of objective, thorough testing under U.S. climatic and biotic conditions.
The recent commercial introduction of promising European rootstocks, prior to comprehensive scientific testing in the U.S., resulted in an expensive lesson for some growers and nurseries that grubbed thousands of trees of certain clones that proved to have serious drawbacks under U.S. orchard conditions.
The Sweet Cherry Genotype Research Consortium (GRC) of scientists was organized in 1995-96 to coordinate contacts between key U.S. cherry scientists and international cherry breeders for critical and integrated evaluation of new rootstocks and cultivars.
Importation of commercially promising selections via the NRSP5/IR-2 quarantine facility at Prosser provides the ability to begin evaluations while still in quarantine.
Among the coordinated GRC tests being developed are pathogenic screenings to determine sensitivity to regionally common viruses and bacterial canker, and physiological evaluations of incompatibilities, cracking index, etc. Secure test sites for high density horticultural field evaluations are being established in key regions, such as Washington, Oregon, and Michigan.
The GRC project is unique among evaluation programs in the number of scientists and breeders involved and the multidisciplinary coordination of diverse tests critical to successful introduction of new rootstocks or cultivars.
This information is entered into a comprehensive computerized GRC database to efficiently provide U.S. growers and nurseries with objective and regionally-specific data on promising new selections, with benefits for international cherry breeders and orchardists as well.