Influence of parental apple tree varieties on the output and mass of hybrid seeds

Abstract

When selecting initial parent genotypes in apple breeding it is necessary to pay attention not only to their commercially valuable traits: adaptability, productivity, marketable and consumer qualities of fruit, but also to the output and weight of hybrid seeds. It is experimentally shown that owing to target selection of initial cultivars it is possible to increase the output and weight of hybrid seeds by far and thus significantly intensify the breeding process. For instance, 2,3 % seeds were obtained from the “Afrodita” x “Sinap Orlovsky” hybridization, while 19,0 % seeds were obtained in the back crossing. The authors come to the conclusion that data on hybrid output and weight are sure to be used as data of preliminary breeding (pre-breeding).