Climate change, the emergence of new diseases and pests and generally higher demands on sustainability pose major challenges for economic fruit production. In recent decades, intensive work has been carried out in plant breeding to create resistant varieties that are robust against a wide range of stress factors. This has laid an important basis for the development of organic and ecologically sound cultivation systems. However, there is still a lack of information for the targeted establishment of robust varieties - especially when it comes to the practical assessment of resistance. A comprehensive assessment of all resistance traits and their weighting according to their relevance in practice is crucial.
The aim of the "DEPO"-project is to develop the basis for systematic practical testing in apple, pear, cherry and plum crops. To achieve this, different testing structures will be brought together in a coordinated network. An efficient tool for data management will be made available for the complex task of robustness assessment. Data will be digitally recorded in a decentralised manner directly in the field using mobile devices. Thanks to a standardised catalogue of test criteria, comparisons of new varieties and established reference varieties can be created from this data.
The broad geographical distribution of the decentralised network guarantees variety interactions with the entire range of stress factors. Differences in general robustness, but also with regard to individual stress factors, are becoming apparent and will allow the creation of meaningful variety comparisons. These in turn form the basis for fact-based decisions on varieties, which ensure a targeted transformation to more robust production varieties and thus make an important contribution to reducing the use of plant protection products (PPPs).
Project partner
