Location: Fruit and Tree Nut Research
Project Number: 6042-21000-004-000-D
Project Type: In-House Appropriated
Start Date: Jun 14, 2013
End Date: May 8, 2018
Objective:
1. Develop improved scion varieties of peaches for both the early season and main season production areas of the southeastern United States with traits leading to increased consumer acceptance, novel flesh types with superior post-harvest handling characteristics, and labor-saving tree architecture.
1A. Develop new peach varieties for the main season industries in central Georgia and South Carolina.
1B. Develop new peach varieties for the early season shipping industry of the lower coastal plain.
2. Develop clonal and seedling rootstocks for peach and other stone fruits with improved resistance to Peach Tree Short Life (PTSL), Armillaria Root Rot (ARR), and root knot (RK) nematode species of economic importance in the southeastern United States.
Approach:
Elite breeding lines and select named varieties with useful traits will be hybridized and the best resulting seedlings selected. These selections will be tested for multiple years in several locations to identify those truly superior to existing commercial varieties in terms of cropping reliability, productivity, firmness and eating quality. These superior selections will then be named and released for use by the commercial peach industry.
Parental root-stock lines with superior resistance to peach-tree short life, Armarilla root rot and pertinent root-knot nematode species will be intercrossed to produce hybrid seedlings with the desired characteristics. Extensive field testing will be utilized to identify those hybrids which have the requisite combination of disease resistance and horticultural traits for successful commercial use in the South Eastern U.S. Peach Industry.
