The Breeding Activity on Apricot in the World from 1980 through Today

According to the bibliographic survey carried out on a wide number of national and international reviews, journals and internet sites, 563 new apricot cultivars plus 61 hybrids apricot x plum and plum x apricot, from 1980 through 2007, have been listed. The list is not exhaustive but it gives a sufficient idea of the international breeding activity in the last three decades. Almost all varieties belong to Prunus armeniaca, very few to P. mume (17) and to P. sibirica (2). Thirty-one countries (28 of the northern hemisphere) contributed to the total release of the new cultivars, the most important being the USA (74 cvs.), France (70), Italy (62), China (47), Czech Republic (29), and Spain (26). The commercial introduction of new varieties has been improved in the recent years; almost 60% of all new cultivars have been released from the year 2000 on. The public sector is still more important than the private one with 63% of the new releases. The private breeders are concentrated in four western countries (USA, France, Italy, and Spain). The most interesting traits of the new cultivars are the resistance/tolerance to PPV and the late ripening. The first trait is present in 14 cultivars released in Germany, Greece, Italy, Czech Republic and Spain, while the late ripening (from end of July through early September) has been introduced in some Italian and French varieties allowing to double the time of production and commercialization of this crop.