PEACH (Prunus persica L.)

The first planned crossing at the Fruit Research Institute, Čačak was performed in 1950 and breeding work on peach has been more intensified since 1959. Major objective of peach selection has been developing cultivars with the following properties: ripening time earlier than peach Spring Time and later than peach I.H. Hale, late flowering time, resistance to low temperatures and Peach leaf curl (Taphrina deformans), suitability for both transport and handling and fresh use and processing. Breeding light colored cultivars, carmine-red blushed fruits (without blush) and light pubescence, suitable for compotes, has also been objective of breeders as well as developing freestone peach with white or yellow flesh of concurrent maturity.