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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Kearneysville, West Virginia » Appalachian Fruit Research Laboratory » Innovative Fruit Production, Improvement, and Protection » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #209133
Title: Multidisciplinary evaluation of new apple cultivars: The NE-183 regional project 1999 planting

Author
item GREENE, D - UNV MASS
item CRASSWELLER, R - PENN STATE UNIV
item HAMPSON, C - AGR FOOD CANADA
item MCNEW, R - UNIV ARKANSAS
item Miller, Stephen

Submitted to: Journal of the American Pomological Society
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/25/2007
Publication Date: 4/1/2007
Citation: Greene, D., Crassweller, R., Hampson, C., Mcnew, R., Miller, S.S. 2007. Multidisciplinary evaluation of new apple cultivars: The NE-183 regional project 1999 planting.. Journal of American Pomological Society. Vol. 61; p. 78-83.

Interpretive Summary: The objective and systematic evaluation of apple cultivars across many planting sites in North America would provide valuable assistance to growers in selecting new cultivars to plant. In addition, consumers would be able to make informed purchasing choices if provided with fruit quality descriptions. A regional project was initiated in 1995 to evaluate apple cultivars on Malling 9 rootstock planted at 19 sites across North America. The project was expanded in 1999 with the addition of 23 apple cultivars. The present paper describes the background and inception for the project, the general methods and serves as the introduction for a series of papers that will follow describing results of the project. Information developed by this regional project will provide a valuable resource for cultivar selection for tree fruit extension, fruit consultants and fruit growers.

Technical Abstract: The NE-183 regional project was established in 1994 with its primary objective to evaluate horticultural characteristics and pest susceptibility of new apple cultivars and advanced selections at numerous locations throughout the United States and Canada to determine both limitations and positive attributes of these cultivars. The project was established because many new apple cultivars were being made available but there was no established mechanism to provide unbiased evaluation to aid orchardists in making informed decisions about what apple cultivars have the greatest likelihood of success. There were two types of plantings: horticulture and pest susceptibility. Pest susceptibility plantings were intended to assess natural susceptibility of cultivars to insects and diseases. The horticulture plantings were intended to evaluate horticultural characteristics, fruit quality and sensory characteristics of the cultivars. The first NE-183 cultivar planting was established in 1995 at 28 locations in 16 U.S.states and two Canadian provinces. A second group of 23 cultivars was planted in 1999. This article summarizes the rationale for initiating the NE-183 project, and lists the cultivars, locations and overall project design for the 1999 planting.