Study on Fruitset and Pollen-Compatibility Status in Sweet Cherry (Prunus avuim L.) Cultivars

Prunus avium L. is one of the most important temperate zone fruits in the world. Most of the cherry cultivars always have difficulties of fertilization and fruit set due to self-incompatibility, so they need suitable and compatible pollinizers for commercial fruit production. In this experiment, pollination compatibility of cherry cultivars of ‘Napoleon’, ‘Burlat’, ‘Zhan’, and ‘Lambert’ was studied as both pollen recipients and donors. To determine the compatibility or incompatibility of pollinizers, percent of fruit set was calculated. This research was carried out as a factorial experiment in a randomized complete block design. The final average fruit set in studied cultivars was different under self or cross-pollination. The results showed that ‘Napoleon’, ‘Zhan’ and ‘Lambert’ cultivars are the suitable pollinizers for ‘Burlat’. Also, ‘Burlat’ is a cultivar which produced many fruits under self-pollination. Therefore, ‘Burlat’ can be used as monoculture for orchard establishment. Results showed that cultivar ‘Napoleon’ was cross-incompatible with ‘Lambert’. ‘Zhan’, ‘Napoleon’ and ‘Lambert’ cultivars are founded self-incompatible and require cross-pollinations to obtain fruits.