Audrius Sasnauskas

At the Institute of Horticulture, Lithuanian Research Centre of Agriculture, Babtai, Lithuania, 27 fruit cultivars and 25 vegetable cultivars suitable for organic production were included in the National Plant Variety List and into the European Union Common Catalogue of Agricultural Plant and Vegetable Varieties. The cultivar development programs have focused on improving cold hardiness, resistance to diseases and pests, and yield, as well as on shipping, shelf life qualities, plant development, and biotechnological applications.

The blackcurrant cultivars ‘Abanos’, ‘Ronix’, ‘Deea’, ‘Geo’ (Romania), ‘Almo’ (Estonia), ‘Narve Viking’, ‘Varde Viking’ (Norway), ‘Mikael’ (Finland), and standard cultivar ‘Ben Tirran’ (Scotland) were tested at the Institute of Horticulture, Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry in 2009-2012. Two-year-old bushes were planted in an orchard in 2009. Bush parameters (vigour and width, m), resistance to anthracnose (Pseudopeziza ribis) and leaf spot (Septoria ribis), berry weight (weight of 100 fruits), yield (kg/bush) and biochemical composition were determined. The study showed that ‘Geo’ was most resistant to fungal disease. Fruits of ‘Abanos’ and ‘Almo’ were the largest. Yield of cultivars ‘Ronix’, ‘Ben Tirran’ and ‘Deea’ were the highest. ‘Abanos’ and ‘Geo’ had the highest content of soluble solids, ‘Ben Tirran’ of titratable acid, ‘Varde Viking’ of anthocyanins and phenols, and ‘Ronix’ and ‘Narve Viking’of ascorbic acid.