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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 #176793
Title: THE NE-183 REGIONAL PROJECT. MULTIDISCIPLINARY EVALUATION OF NEW APPLE CULTIVARS: HORTICULTURAL ASPECTS

Author
item Miller, Stephen

Submitted to: Annual Cumberland Shenandoah Fruit Workers Conference
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/5/2005
Publication Date: 3/20/2005
Citation: Miller, S.S. 2005. The ne-183 regional project. multidisciplinary evaluation of new apple cultivars: horticultural aspects. Proceedings of the 80th Cumberland Shenandoah Fruit Workers Conference. PP. 11-24. 2004

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 present paper summarizes some of the horticultural 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: A multi-site experiment to evaluate the performance of apple cultivars was established in 1995 with twenty different cultivars as part of the NE-183 Regional Project, 'Multidisciplinary Evaluation of New Apple Cultivars'. The purpose of the experiment was to evaluate new and promising apple cultivars in a range of geographical and climatic areas within North America. All trees were propagated on M.9 and minimally pruned to encourage early bearing. An additional 20 cultivars were added to the project plantings in 1999. This report summarizes some of the horticultural findings and performance of cultivars planted in 1995. References for additional detailed information published in various professional journals are provided. No one cultivar consistently out-performed all other cultivars at all test locations and no location proved superior for all cultivars. The project demonstrated the significant effect that the interaction of cultivar and location can have on apple cultivar performance. Cultivars that received high praise for overall performance included 'GoldRush', 'Golden Supreme', 'Shizuka', 'Cameo', September Wonder Fuji', 'Ambrosia', 'Crimson Crisp', and 'Hampshire'.