Breeding activities аnd cultivar composition оf apple (Malus domestica L.)

Stanislava Dimitrova, Dimitar Sotirov

Abstract: Brief analysis of the status and trends of apple production in the world and in Bulgaria, the selection trends and objectives was made. In the world the areas occupied with apples for the period 2003 – 2012 gradually increased from
4 799 102 ha for 2003 to 4 842 822 ha for 2012. In 2012, most areas have in China – 2 060 170 ha, followed by India (321 900 ha), Poland (194 680 ha), Russian Federation (183 300 ha), Turkey (150 847 ha) and Iran (134 000 ha). For the same period the areas in Bulgaria decreased from 7775 to 5234 ha. China and the United States have the largest relative share in the world production
of fruits – by 42.90% and 6.34%, followed by Turkey (3.72%) and Poland (3.41%). Bulgaria’s share in the production of apples is unsatisfactory – 0.05%. In all countries with developed apple production were started breeding programs to improve the biological and economic characteristics of the cultivars grown and creating of new with improved properties. Cultivars Golden Delicious, Red Delicious, Gala, Aydared, Granny Smith are grown in most European countries. The main apple cultivars in Bulgaria included in the production are Golden Delicious (19.62%), Red Delicious (9.29%), Granny Smith (8.51%), Florina (7.68%), Melrose (6.26%).

Keywords: apple; areas; breeding; cultivars; production

Date published: 2017-08-09