A NEW SCAB RESISTANT APPLE : ‘INITIAL’

‘Initial’ is a new triploid apple cultivar carrying the V_f gene of resistance to Venturia inaequalis. It is derived from a cross made in 1980 at INRA Angers between ‘Gala’, as the seed parent and ‘Red Free’, as the pollen parent.
It matures one week before ‘Gala’. ‘Initial’ fruit has a ¾ blushed and striped red skin on a yellow ground. It is medium to big size.
The flesh is crisp; the taste is mildly acidic and flavored. ‘Initial’ shows some susceptibility to early drop before harvest some years in hot weather countries. Storage ability is shorter than ‘Gala’ but has to be specified under standard and ULO conditions.
It is well adapted to the North of Europe. ‘Initial’ apple orchard is very easy to manage: it needs only light pruning, no chemical thinning and reduced phytosanitary treatments; ‘Initial’ is tolerant to a large range of apple diseases and pests. Scab tests are currently in progress to study the behavior of ‘Initial’ against different new strains of Venturia inaequalis.

Eucarpia symposium on Fruit Breeding and Genetics

F. Laurens, Y. Lespinasse, A. Fouillet

Malus domestica, Venturia inaequalis, disease resistance, apple breeding

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2000.538.127