Autochthonous Cherry Rootstock Germplasm in the Context of Sustainable Sweet Cherry Production

Sustainability of fruit production is becoming a necessity in the time of climate changes and severe environmental issues, including decreasing water availability and biodiversity loss. To overcome these difficulties in sweet cherry production, we aimed to investigate the autochthonous cherry germplasm as a source of adaptable, size-controlling and productive rootstocks. The performance of sweet cherry cultivar ‘Summit’ grafted on six rootstock candidates and ‘Gisela 5’ as a control has been assessed in semi-arid climate, in conditions without irrigation and pruning, and with minimal herbicides’ application. The qualitative (anchorage, suckering, vitality), vegetative (trunk cross sectional area—TCSA, tree dimensions) and generative (potential and achieved yielding, fruit quality) characteristics were investigated. All candidates provided adequate anchorage while three candidates did not form suckers. Trees on ‘Gisela 5’ showed the lowest vitality. The scion TCSA in the fifth vegetation ranged from 16.7 to 47.2 cm2, while tree height, crown width and depth were up to 293, 150 and 175 cm, respectively. In sixth vegetation, the yield reached 4.1 kg. The average fruit mass in the trial of 2020–2021 was 8 g, fruit width was up to 27.5 cm, while the dry matter content reached 19%. The study showed that with the proper rootstock selection, sweet cherries could achieve satisfactory growth and yield without harming the environment and with minimal orchard’s maintenance practices. Within investigated autochthonous material, candidate PC_02_01/4 induced the best performance of ‘Summit’ cultivar.