Breeding strategies for the fruit crop Japanese quince (Chaenomeles japonica)

In this paper, an ideotype for the fruit crop Japanese quince (Chaenomeles japonica) is established and traits to be specifically considered for selection and breeding are discussed: adaptation and hardiness, disease resistance, thorns, suckering, growth, rooting, time of ripening, yield, amenability for mechanical harvesting and fruit quality. In addition, test guidelines and descriptors for Chaenomeles species are presented. Short-term and long-term breeding strategies are suggested, based on a study of general and specific combining ability for plant vegetative traits, fruit yield and morphology traits, and fruit biochemistry traits. An efficient breeding strategy for Japanese quince could be based on recurrent selection. However, extensive test crosses and progeny tests in well-designed field trials should also be considered since some important traits are controlled by additive as well as non-additive genes