Apple varieties suitable for organic cultivation in Lithuania (BIOFRUITNET Practice Abstract)

Summary in the original language of the document

The use of the recommended robust apple cultivars can help to control the main diseases and contribute to the reduction of plant protection applications.
Practical recommendation
• Check information about local cultivars tested at research stations and established orchards. Talk to your retailers. Ask yourself the following questions to choose a suitable variety for your context of production:
o Do I want to produce table apples or cider apples?
o Which palette of varieties regarding the taste do I want to offer?
o Which harvesting times do I want to cover?
o Do I want to sell the apples to a retailer or direct marketing? If you want to sell to a retailer, check which varieties they accept before planting. If you want to do direct marketing, consider having a broad palette of varieties covering all taste groups and a long selling period.
o Do I have storage capacities?
• Even cultivars described as scab resistant may develop a scab race that can break down the resistance. Al-ways control apple scab from bud break and at big infections peak in the primary ascospore discharge period.
• Even robust cultivars against apple scab do not significantly reduce the need for treatments. There is always the risk of other diseases, such as sooty blotch.
• List of cultivars for organic apple production suited in Lithuania:
o Summer cultivars: Alemanda, Poema, Pira, Orlov, Izbranica
o Autumn cultivars: Rudenis, Vitos, Sava, Aldas
o Winter cultivars: Skaistis (Picture 1), Freedom, Štaris (Picture 2), Rajka, Rosana, Rubinola, Florina (Picture 3), Pinova, Bosanova (Picture 4)