Evaluation of Sour Cherry (Prunus cerasus L.) Landraces Originated from the West Serbia Region

Autochthonous genotypes of sour cherry (Prunus cerasus L.) are important source of genetic variability and represent valuable material for breeding work. In order to evaluate the main biological properties of ten sour cherry landraces (‘GV-6’, ‘GV-7’, ‘GV-8’, ‘GV-10’, ‘GV-11’, ‘GV13’, ‘GV-14’, ‘GV-15’, ‘GV-16’, ‘GV-17’) from the West Serbia region, flowering and ripening time, fruit quality traits (morphometric, chemical and organoleptic), tree vigour, yield and field resistance to causal agents of diseases (cherry leaf spot and brown rot) were investigated. The highest
average fruit weight was found in ‘GV-10’ and ‘GV-13’ (>7.5 g), whereas the highest soluble solids
content was detected in ‘GV-7’ (17.30%). In terms of field resistance to pathogens, ‘GV-6’ and ‘GV10’ showed the best performance. Owing to desirable biological and productive traits, some of the
examined genotypes (‘GV-6’ and ‘GV-10’) have already been used as parents in the Fruit Research
Institute, ^a~ak sour cherry breeding programme. Furthermore, ‘GV-6’ and ‘GV-10’ have potential
for commercial production