Behaviour of some Bulgarian plum cultivars in the pedo-climatic conditions of the Pitesti – Romania area

In Romania and Bulgaria, plum is one of the most widespread species, both countries carry out a large breeding program. ‘Stanley’ is the most widespread cultivar in the plum orchards of both countries. Although it is a very productive cultivar, further requested by farmers, it presents some defects such as the low fruit quality and the sensitivity to Plum pox virus. That is why in both countries an improvement of the assortment was imposed by creating new cultivars in their breeding program, but also by introducing valuable cultivars obtained in other breeding centers from Europe. For this reason, researchers from both countries have changed biological material. In 2015, three Bulgarian cultivars were planted in a field trial by the Research Institute for Fruit Growing Pitesti, Romania. This paper aimed to evaluate the behaviour of these cultivars in climatic conditions from the Pitesti-Maracineni area. All Bulgarian cultivars were noted by good production, large fruits with high soluble solids content, as well as by tolerance to Plum pox virus. These cultivars can be recommended for extension in the commercial orchards from Romania, taking into account the requirements of the private fruit growers. Also, these cultivars can be used as genitors in breeding programs.