2. Introduction:-
Botanical name: Prunus domestica L.
Family:- Rosaceae
Chromosome no. 2n= x=16
Origin – Japan
Fruit type – stone fruit (drupe)
Inflorescence Fasicle
Protogynous in natures
Malic acid major
Rootstock use wild apricot
Pollenizers varieties – Beauty, Satnarosa and Frier
India Japanese plum (P.salicina) more popular
India ranks Eighth position in plum production A/C to FAOSTAT
Database 2019)
3. Evolutionary Mechanisms:-
Centre of Origin:- Japan
European plum:- It is assumed that the species originated in the
Caucasian region because P. cerasifera and P. domestica are native
there.
Japanese plum :- It may originate from Yangtze River Basin in China
(Yoshida 1987).
Adaptation and domestication: -
Commercially grown in Jammu Kashmir and himanchal Pradesh.
4. History of Plum Breeding:-
Crane and Lawrence (1934) suggest that the hexaploid P. domestica is a
hybrid of P. cerasifera (cherry plum, diploid) and P. spinosa (sloe,
autopolyploid tetraploid).
A description of plum varieties of commercial interest was made by Basso
and Faccioli (1978), Sura´ nyi and Erd ¨os (1998) and Hartmann (2003).
The famous plum breeder Luther Burbank started his breeding in 1875
using all plum species available.
Howard (1945) lists more than 100 plum cultivars introduced by Burbank.
In 1885, Burbank imported a cultivar with intensively red fruit flesh,
known as ‘Blood plum of Satsuma’.
5. Species Origin American wild
plum
P. domestica ( European plum) Europe P. Americana
P. insititia (Damson plum) Western Asia P. Augustifolia
P. cerasifera (Cherry plum) Western & Central Asia P. nigra
P. salicina (Japanese plum) China P. subcordata
P. simonii (Apricot Plum ) Cultivated in China, Japan
and Central Asia
P. hortulana
Wild Plums Rootstock breeding as
donors of resistance or
ecological adaptability
P. munsoniana
Genetic Resources:-
6. Scientific name Common Name Distribution
P. brigantina
Briançon plum, Briançon apricot, marmot
plum
Europe
P. cerasifera cherry plum, myrobalan plum
Southeast Europe and
Western Asia
P. japonica Japanese bush cherry
Central China through
Korean peninsula
P. domestica (species of most
"plums”
Europe
P. domestica ssp. insititia damsons, bullaces Asia
P. salicina Chinese plum China
P. simonii (widely cultivated in
North China)
China
P. spinosa blackthorn or sloe
Europe, western Asia, and
locally in northwest Africa
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prunus_brigantina
7. P. brigantina P. cerasifera P. japonica P. domestica
P. domestica ssp.
insititia
P. salicina P. simonii
P. spinosa
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prunus_brigantina
8. Cytogenetics:-
Most of the cultivated plum cultivars belong to only two species:-
• The European plum (P. domestica) with a hexaploid genome (2n=6=48).
• The Japanese plum (P. salicina) with a diploid chromosome set (2n=2=
16).
• The study of triploid hybrids is very interesting and enabled us:
1. To point out a very strong homology between two of the three genomes
confronted in the hybrid but it was not possible to tell which of them;
2. To make conspicuous the phenomenon of total cytomixis leading to
unreduced gametes. (https://www.actahort.org/books/10/10_12.htm)
9. Breeding objectives:-
In European plum
(P. domestica):-
In Japanese plums
(P. salicina):-
For subtropical regions:-
Improvement for cold
hardiness,
Self-fertile To develop an early maturing
cultivar with low chilling
requirement,
High productivity, Late blooming plums Tolerant to high temperature
Large sized fruits, High quality (particularly
yellow skin) are important
characteristics.
Dwarfing rootstocks,
Coloured Variety (red,
purple or blue),
Tolerant to saline and stagnant
soils,
Free stone and dessert
quality are important
criteria.
Juicy with proper TSS/ acid
ratio,
Suitable for processing
Resistant / tolerant to insect,
pests and diseases.
10. Floral biology:-
• The flowers of plum are initiated generally current season’s shoots and new
growth on older spurs.
• Plum flowers are small, attractive, white in colour, complete, perfect and
perigynous.
• The flowering period of Japanese plum is generally shorter than that of
European plum.
• Cross-incompatibility prevents fertilisation between special combinations of plum
varieties.
• Male sterility is known in plums since Crane (1925) reported about this
phenomenon in ‘Gold Esperen’.
• The best time for pollination is the first 2 days of the opening of the flower
11.
12.
13. Recent advances in crop improvement:-
Introduction:-
• Santa Rosa , Sutlej purple are important introduction as commercial
cultivars found suitable for midhills of north west Himalayas.
• Other breeding method are yet not followed in India.
Santa Rosa Sutlej purple
14. Clonal Selection:-
• Some clones were selected within the variety ‘Mirabelle de
Nancy’ as well. The most interesting one is clone No. ‘1725’
with large, pink spotted fruits.
• No. ‘P 2778’ is a clone of ‘Mirabelle de Mete’ with high sugar
content and typical aroma. They are well suited for brandy
production.
Mirabelle de Nancy No. ‘1725 No. ‘P 2778
15. Rootstock Breeding:-
• For plum, wild peach and wild apricot are commonly used as rootstocks.
• Among clonal rootstocks, Myrobolan B. was found to be most promising.
• Wild apricot seedlings and wild peach were also found to be suitable
rootstocks for commercial cultivars like Santa Rosa, Mariposa and Beauty.
Wild peach Wild apricot Myrobolan B
16. Resistance Breeding for Biotic & Abiotic Stress:-
• 1st sharka resistant European plum cultivar jojo – introduce in
1999.
• P. domestica , resistance breeding against PPV , using
hypersensitivity found in ‘jojo’ & sister of this variety ‘Ortenauer
* Stanley 34’.
Sharka Jojo Ortenauer * Stanley 34’.
18. Satluj Purple:
It is a self-unfruitful cultivar and requires Kala
Amritsari as pollinizer. The TSS of Juice ranges
between 12-14 percent and acidity 0.5 to 0.7
percent. The fruits are usually eaten fresh. It is an
early ripening low yielding cultivar. It ripens in
early May and yield 35-40 Kg of fruit per tree.
Kala Amritsari:It is self-fruitful high yielding
local cultivar. The trees are vigorous with profuse
branching. This is most preferred cultivar of
plains. The TSS of juice ranges between 13 to 15
percent and acidity l.D-1.3.percent. Fruit ripen in
second half of May. Average yield about 55 kg
per trees. Its fruits are preferred for making Jam
and squash.
19. Titron:
It is a self-fruitful cultivar but its yield increases if Alucha Early Round is used as a
pollinizer. Titron trees are smaller than kala Amritsari. The flesh is yellow and less
juicy. Fruit yield 30-35 Kg per tree. It is good for table purpose as well as jam
making.
Kataruchak:
The cultivar originated in village Kataruchak of Gurdaspur district in Punjab. The
cultivar is partially self-fruitful. The yield per tree increased where both kataruchak
and Kala Amritsari had been planted. It ripens just after kala Amritsari. Fruit yield
45-50 kg per tree. Fruit is good for table purpose, jam and squash.
Alubokhara:
The fruits are of larger size than all other cultivars. Its yield is less than kala
Amritsari.
• President, Early Italian, Red Plum, Frontier, Diurret, Friar.
20. References
Babu, R.H. and Kumar, P.S. (1998). Haryana J. hort Sci., 17, 24-27.
Chadha, K.L. and Pareek, O.P. (1993). In: Advances in Horticulture, Vol. I. Malhotra
Publishing House, New Delhi.
Cheong, S.T. and Kim, J.S. (1984). J. Korean Soc.Hort. Sci., 25, 241-249.
Chovatia, R.S., et. al.(1992). Gujarat Agric. Univ. Res. J., 17, 56-60.
Chundawat, B.S. and Srivastava, H.C. (1980). Ann Arid Zone, 19, 365-367.
Desai, U.T.,et. al. (1986). J.Maharashtra Agric. Univ., 11, 76-78.
Dhaliwal, J.S. and Bal, J.S. (1998). P.A.U J. Res. 35, 36-40.
Garhwal, O.P. (1997). M.Sc. Thesis, Rajasthan Agric. Univ., Bikaner, India.
Godara, N.R. (1980). Ph.D. Thesis, Haryana Agric. Univ., Hisar, India.
Godara, N.R. (1981). Thesis Abstracts, HAU., 7: 65-66.
Grice, A.C. (1998). Weed Sci., 46: 467-474.
Gupta, M.R. and Minhas, P.P.S. (1991). P.A.U J. Res. 28:357-358.
Hulwale, T.D., et al. (1996). J. Maharashtra Agric. Univ., 20:470.
