Selection of promising strawberry seedlings from the 2021–2022 hybridization program

Abstract

The article evaluates hybrid strawberry seedlings obtained from controlled hybridization of 19 cross combinations and from open pollination of 10 cultivars. The regional assortment in the Middle Volga region currently includes 13 strawberry cultivars, most of which no longer meet modern production requirements. Therefore, the identification of promising introduced cultivars for use as parental material remains a priority for breeding. The study examined hybrid seedlings, identified elite selections, and determined the most promising parental sources for further breeding. A total of 1,501 hybrid seedlings produced in 2021–2022 were assessed. Research was conducted in 2021–2025 at the breeding site of the Research Institute of Horticulture and Medicinal Plants Zhigulevskie Sady (Samara Region, Russia) using standard methodology. Observations and trait assessments were carried out in Malaya Tsarevshchina, Krasnoyarsk District, Samara Region. The evaluation showed that parental sources involving the cultivars Karmen, Asia, Joly, Sugar Lia, Elianne, and Siria produced the highest proportion of seedlings expressing a complex of agronomically important traits. In total, 327 promising seedlings were identified, including 107 elite selections that combined multiple economically valuable traits; this represents 7.1% of the total seedling population. The highest proportions of elite selections were obtained from the following parental sources: the cross combinations Karmen × Asia (29.7 %) and Karmen × Sugar Lia (22.2 %), and the open-pollinated progenies of Siria (29.0 %), Elianne (27.3 %), and Joly (23.1 %). The largest number of elite selections combining large fruit size and field resistance to diseases was obtained from the combinations Karmen × Asia, Karmen × Sugar Lia, and Zhanna × Asia.