Breeding of a new early maturing and large size peach cultivar ‘Danlu’

Abstract: ‘Danlu’was selected from the bud mutation of‘Yuhualu’and has good quality. Because of itsbright fruit color, large fruit size and long shelf life, the variant plant was selected from‘Yuhualu’by Wei⁃fang Academy of Agricultural Sciences. It has passed the expert identification by Department of Scienceand Technology of Shandong Province in 2013. It was certificated by crop varieties certification committeeof Shandong Province in December 2014 and named‘Danlu’. The fruit of‘Danlu’is oblong with around-flat top, shallow sutures and symmetrical halves. Its average fruit weight is 210 g, the biggest is349 g. The fruit skin is yellow-white, covered with bright red over 80% on the surface. The flesh is whitewith little red pigment, hard-melting, juicy and cling stone. The average soluble solids content of the fruitis 13.2%，the total soluble sugar content is 10.08%, the titratable acid content is 0.23%, and it has goodeating quality. It has excellent storage traits and can be stored above 10 days at room temperature. Thefruit development period is about 78 days. The fruits mature in the last half period of June in Weifang ar⁃ea, about 3 to 4 days later than that of‘Yuhualu’. The growth period of the tree is about 240 days and theleaf defoliation ending date is early November. The tree o‘f Danlu’is vigorouse and semi-spreading. Itssprouting and branching ability are srong. The annual shoots are green and luggage exposed halves ofshoots. The length is medium with the average of 2.94 cm. The leaves are deep green, broadly lanceolate,and middle size. The average length and width of the leaf are 18.5cm and 4.2 cm, respectively. The lengthof petioles is 0.7 cm, generally with 2 reniform glands. The flowers are rose type, pink, and 5 petals. Theflower bud is initiated from 2-3 sections. The cultivar is self-fruitful, and the pollen compatibility is fer⁃tile. It does not need to arrange varieties for pollination, but the cross pollination can obviously improvethe fruit quality. The cultivar has high yield that it can bear fruits in the second year after planting, and isentered into full fruit period from the third year after planting. The average yield of fifth trees could reach3 844.5 kg per 666.7 m2. The results of regional adaptability testing at five sites (including Weifang area,Linyi area, Pinggu area, Xinxiang area and Shunping area, all those places are the main peach producingareas in the north China) over five years from 2007 to 2012, showed that the cultivar had broad adaptation,strong cold resistance, and common disease resistance. It is suitable to be planted in Shandong, Henan,Hebei and other main producing area of peach. In production, it is prefer to use ridge planting, close plant⁃ing, three branches open center shape or Y shape and long pruning. The prevention and control of the dis⁃ease should be focused on the Anthracnose and shot hole diseases.