The Last Twenty Years of Blackcurrant (Ribes nigrum L.) Breeding Work in Poland

A short history of applied blackcurrant-breeding programme carried out at the Research Institute of Pomology and Floriculture (RIPF) in Skierniewice and its achievements in the last 20 years are presented in this paper. The new Polish blackcurrant cultivars 'Tiben', 'Tisel', 'Ores', 'Ruben', and 'Tines' were released at RIPF and admitted in the Polish National List of Varieties of Fruit Plants in 2000 and 2005. All these cultivars are also protected by Plant Breeder's Rights (PBR) on the territory of the EU-27 until the years 2029 and 2032. Results of the experiments on mechanical fruit harvesting and of fruit analyses showed high productive value of the new Polish cultivars and their suitability for both processing and the fresh market. The latest selection (PC-1), for which the name 'Gofert' has been proposed, and which is currently being evaluated, is also described.