DEVELOPMENT OF A PRUNE BREEDING PROGRAM IN CALIFORNIA

The Prune Cultivar Development and Evaluation Program was initiated at the UC Kearney Agricultural Center, Parlier, California in July 1985, in response to the need for new prune cultivars in California.
The program’s objectives are to develop new prune cultivars for the California dried prune industry that are superior to the commonly grown ‘Improved French’ cultivar and have improved disease and pest resistance.
The program’s breeding strategies have included primary evaluations of known cultivars, broad range crosses using a variety of parentage, and backcrosses to the popular ‘Improved French’ variety.
The results of the program are shown in the program’s release of two new cultivars in the year 2000. The ‘Sutter Prune’ was released as a high quality drying prune and the ‘Tulare Giant’ prune was released as a fresh market prune.

VII International Symposium on Plum and Prune Genetics, Breeding and Pomology

T.M. DeJong, J.F. Doyle, C.J. DeBuse

Plant breeding, Prunus domestica, Prunes, Dried Plums, “Sutter Prune”, “Tulare Giant”.

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2002.577.23