The plum variety “Pagane” – pride of the Fruit Growing Institute in Plovdiv

The cultivar “Pagane” was duly recognized and awarded first place in the Innovation Competition, category “Varietal Seeds and Planting Material” of the International Agricultural Exhibition “AGRA 2022”.

In the autumn, fruit growers will be able to purchase from the Institute authentic and high-quality planting material of this plum cultivar.

The breeding programme for the development of new plum cultivars at the Fruit Growing Institute – Plovdiv was launched in 1987. The main objective is the creation of cultivars that are tolerant or resistant to the viral disease “sharka” (plum pox) with good biological and economic characteristics. The first successful results are “Plovdivska Renkloda”, “Sineva”, “Ulpia” and “Ostromila”. As a result of the latest ongoing breeding activities at the Institute, in 2019 two new plum cultivars, “Sirma” and “Pagane”, were registered.

“Pagane” is a plum cultivar from the group of greengages (renklodes), obtained as a result of the work of the authors’ breeding team – Prof. DSc Valentina Bozhkova, Assoc. Prof. PhD Pancho Iliev and Chief Expert Leyda Todorova. The cultivar was selected from a population of 151 plants. All of them were grown from X‑ray irradiated seeds obtained from the open pollination of the cultivar “Altanova Renkloda”. Among these plants, ten elite selections were chosen, which showed good tolerance to “sharka” (exhibiting mild symptoms only on the leaves), had very high productivity, and large fruits with good taste. After being planted in an orchard for final evaluation, from this group Elite 1-53 demonstrated very good qualities and was subsequently registered as a new cultivar – “Pagane”.

For both the Bulgarian breeding programme and the growers, the time of flowering is an important characteristic, as the effects of spring frosts on the reproductive organs are highly dependent on it. Under the conditions of the Plovdiv region, the beginning of flowering of “Pagane” occurs at the end of March. All stages of development of this phenological phase take place 2–3 days earlier than the standard cultivar “Stanley”. The average flowering duration of plum cultivars varies from 7 to 9.5 days, and the longer period is a prerequisite for better pollination. The duration of the entire phenological phase in “Pagane” is 9 days. Its fruits ripen in the second ten-day period of August and are ready for harvest 9 days before “Stanley”.

In years with extreme late and repeatedly occurring spring frosts, the damage recorded in the Plovdiv region on “Pagane” is greater compared to “Stanley”. In 2020, at the end of flowering (BBCH 67-69 – 08.04.2020), after a critical drop in temperatures, 39% frozen flowers were recorded in “Pagane” and 5% in “Stanley”. Nevertheless, even under these conditions the productivity of the new cultivar remained very good, and the fruit weight reached up to 80.21 g.

The fruits of “Pagane” have a very attractive appearance and excellent taste qualities. They are obovate with asymmetrical halves and a deeply indented suture. They are categorized as very large and significantly surpass the standard cultivar. A substantial difference has been observed between all biometric characteristics.

In the autumn, fruit growers will be able to purchase from the Institute authentic and high-quality planting material of this plum cultivar.