STUDIES ON THE PHENOTYPIC EVALUATION OF SOME ROMANIAN VARIETIES OF APPLE CONCERNING THE RESISTANCE TO SCAB

The apple scab produced by the Ventura inaequalis pathogen is a serious disease affecting the leaves, flowers and fruits. In Romania, the disease is present every year in all fruit trees. The negative side effects of large-scale, sometimes abusive, use of pesticides in agriculture, and in particular environmental pollution and residual accumulation, as well as increasing practical difficulties in tackling combating problems through the emergence of disease-resistant breeds and pests, have led research to find new solutions to limit their use. In support of this idea, research into obtaining new varieties with genetic resistance to scab is a basic premise. For this, identifying new sources of scab resistance is a major concern for breeders. This paper proposes the evaluation of native varieties with natural genetic resistance to Venturia inaequalis by phenotypic techniques. For this purpose the monitoring of the growth peculiarities, the fruiting of some old resistant apple varieties: 'Calugaresti', 'Moti', 'Oute', 'Mere Tari', 'Tari de Ghinda', as well as the phenotypical evaluation of these old varieties following artificial infections with Venturia inaequalis. The apple varieties taken in the study 'Calugaresti', 'Moti', 'Oute', 'Mere Tari', 'Tari de Ghinda' were laid at 4 degrees C and after emergence and repaired the highest percentage of raised plants were observed at 'Tari de Ghinda' variety with 47.5% followed by 'Calugaresti' variety, with 45.6%. The lowest percentage was recorded for the 'Moti' variety, by 22.5%. Following the artificial infections with Venturia inaequalis, the highest percentage of plants resistant to infection was recorded in the 'Calugaresti' variety with 88.0%