RESULTS OF THE EVALUATION OF CERTAIN SWEET CHERRY

CULTUVARS ON THE SEMI-VIGOROUS ‘MAXMA 14’

NIKOLA SARAGINOVSKI1*, MARJAN KIPRIJANOVSKI1, TOSHO ARSOV1, SLAVKO GEORGIEVSKI1
1University of Ss. „Cyril and Methodius”, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Food, Department of Fruit Growing, „16-ta Makedonska Brigada No.3”, North
Macedonia
* nsaraginovski@fznh.ukim.edu.mk

INTRODUCTION

Sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) is an important fruit crop in R.N. Macedonia. The sweet cherry production area has been steadily increasing and as of
2022 is 573 ha (AFSARD, 2022). As a small country R.N. Macedonia does not have a sweet cherry breeding program so the introduction of foreign cultivars is
the only method of attempting to improve the sweet cherry assortment. Improving fruit quality attributes such as size, appearance, firmness, taste, shelf-
life, as well as extending seasonality (developing low chill cultivars), self-fertility, abiotic and biotic stress resistance, are the main focus of the sweet cherry
breeding programs around the world (Sansavini and Lugli, 2008). Many new cultivars have been realized (Quero-Garcia et al., 2017). Surprisingly, other than
the breeding of cultivars specifically adapted to particular growing conditions (such as low chill regions), many of the world major cultivars (e.g. ‘Lapins’)
grow well in a wide variety of locations, on the other hand, the most planted cultivar in the USA, ‘Bing’, does well in the Pacific Northwest region, but grows
poorly in many other cherry production regions (Long et al., 2021).
Limited funding is a restricting factor regarding cultivar introduction in R.N. Macedonia. Cultivars with already known characteristics of good productivity
and fruit quality are the main criteria of cultivar selection for evaluation. The aim of our research was to examine the vegetative and reproductive
characteristics of the cultivars ‘Carmen’, ‘Ziraat 0900’, ‘Kordia’ and ‘Regina’ grafted onto the semi-vigorous ‘MaxMa 14’ rootstock.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Data was collected for six consecutive years since the establishment of the experimental orchard in spring of 2017. The orchard (41°36'21.8''N
21°46'23.2''E) is located in the central part of the Republic of North Macedonia. Four cultivars were included in the trial: ‘Carmen®’ (S4S5), ‘Ziraat 0900’
(S3S12), ‘Kordia’ (S3S6), and ‘Regina’ (S1S3) grafted onto the ‘MaxMa 14’ rootstock. The planting distance used was 4 x 2 m and the trees in the trial were
trained by the modified tall spindle axe system (permanent scaffold branches in the lowest part of the canopy). Herbicide strips were maintained in the tree
row, and alleyways were kept grass free by periodical ploughing. Drip Irrigation, fertilization and plant protection sprays were applied according to the
commonly used commercial standards.
In each of the examined years, 15 trees were examined from every cultivar. Each year, during the winter dormancy period the diameter of the trunk
(measured 20 cm above the graft union with a measuring tape) was determined, on which basis the trunk cross-section area (TCSA) was calculated.
For the assessment of the fruit bearing, all of the fruits per tree were harvested their weight was determined and expressed as yield per tree for each
bearing year and cumulative yield per tree. Yield efficiency (kg/cm2) was calculates using the ration of cumulative yield (2020-2022) to TCSA measured in
spring 2023. Yield efficiency (kg/m3) was also calculated using the ratio of cumulative yield to tree canopy volume (TCV). TCV was determined by
measuring the trees height and width during the winter dormancy period (prior to pruning), using the assumption that the crown shape is a cone, the
formula for the volume of a cone was used TCV = (d/2)2 *π.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Table 1. Average blooming (gray strip) and ripening (red strip) time ( 2020-2022).

Table 2. Cumulative yield, yield efficiency valvulated on TCSA and crown volume( 2020-2022).
Figure 1. Trunk growth dynmamic (2017-2023).

Table 3. Fruit quality paramteters ( 2020-2022).

Figure 2. Cumulative yield per tree (2020-2022).

CONCLUSION
Based on our preliminary results the following conclusions can be made:
‘Maxma 14’ induced sweet cherry trees with moderate vigor and can serve as a semi-vigorous alternative to the vigorous Mahaleb and Mazzard rootstocks.
Because of an overlap of the majority of the blooming period, and different pairs of pollen S alleles, the cultivars in the study can be used as pollinators
interchangeably between each other.
‘Regina’ stood out as the most productive cultivar, ‘Carmen’ and ‘Kordia’ performed well and produced satisfactory yield with adequate fruit quality. ‘Ziraat 0900’
was not able to set a satisfactory number of fruits, and therefore at this time point cannot be recommended for growing in the central region of N. Macedonia.
In the future the examination will continue in order to provide a more informed recommendation on the appropriateness of the studied cultivars-rootstock
combination for commercial cultivation on a larger scale.
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V Balkan Symposium on Fruit Growing, Zagreb, Croatia, June 18-21, 2023