In the beginning of the 1990's the share of fruit, small fruit and nut plantings within the structure of national agriculture amounted to only 0.3% of the total agricultural land and 0.8% of the arable lands. In financial terms the bulk production of fruit crops cultivation has reached 3.6% of the total value of all production of plant growing. With the total area of orchards in state and collective farms amounting to 1,694 thousand hectares, the yield of fruit, berries and nuts averaged 9.5 million tons in 1986 through 1988. Thus the USSR became one of the first fruit-producer countries in the world [2,4].
The major part in fruit production was played by large specialised farms which produced over 65% of fruits, berries and nuts. Yields are nearly two times higher on these farms than in the country on the average (8.1 t/ha and 4.6 t/ha, respectively). For instance, the state farm "Agronom", an advanced farm in the Krasnodar Territory, yielded 20 tons of fruit per each of 1,500 ha of its fruit bearing orchards. However, we see a negative tendency in the development of horticulture, so the share of small-size, low-productive farms makes 70% of all state and collective farms engaged in fruit-growing; the former accumulate 40% (that is 750 thousand hectares) of all orchards of the public sector. The process of de-specialisation takes place due to the increase in the share of other types of agricultural products, vegetables especially, produced by fruit growing farms [3,8,9].
The total area of orchards and small-fruit patches on household plots made 1,269 thousand hectares, or 43% of the total areas under fruit, small-fruit and nut plantings in the country. The share of these private orchards amounted to more than 60% of areas under stone-fruit, nut-bearing and berry crops, and 70% of subtropical crops. In a number of republics of the USSR, as well as in some economic regions of Russia and Ukraine, from 85 to 90% of the bulk production of berries, stone fruits, nuts and subtropical fruits were provided by the private sector, and in some regions this sector was the sole producer of the above crops [3.4].
In the last years of the existence of the USSR, a special boom can be noticed in the development of collective gardening, especially around large industrial centres, like Moscow and Leningrad. While in 1970 the number of families owning plots in collective gardens amounted to 2,327.6 thousand, by 1987 this figure had increased 2.6 times, the area of collective gardens growing from 154.2 up to 440 thousand hectares. In 1986 these gardens yielded 700 thousand tons of fruits, berries and nuts, about 10% of the total volume produced by the private sector [5,6].
In terms of yielding ability, labour productivity, and fruits, berries and nuts consumption per capita, the USSR has been lagging behind the developed nations of the West. According to the official statistics the per capita consumption amounted to only 55kg per year against the norm of 78 kg per year. Due to the low productivity of orchards, delayed replacement of low-production plantings and some other reasons, the annual average volume of fruits production had decreased 935 thousand tons by the early 1990's and thus reduced to the level of 1980 - 1985.
The situation with the deficient fruits, berries and nuts was still worsened by significant losses of from 20 to 30% of the total amount grown during harvesting, transporting, storing, processing and marketing. The structure of plantings has also undergone negative changes: the areas under pear have reduced 20%, those under sour cherry reduced more than twice, and those under sweet cherry reduced 17%. Especially sharp shrinking of areas took place in the republics of Central Asia which usually had been supplying the most early fruits. Due to the failure to fulfil the plan of production, the State had to purchase abroad over 900 thousand tons of fresh fruits and berries and 81.3 thousand tons of dried fruits [4].
Despite the existence in the USSR of a powerful scientific force (including one all-union and 8 republican horticultural research institutes, 6 zonal horticultural institutes, 11 horticultural departments at zonal agricultural research institutes, 25 experiment stations, 18 departments of horticulture at agricultural higher education institutes) upgrading of commercial fruit and small-fruit crops in the country went slowly. Though the abovementioned institutions had bred many new varieties, the majority of commercial varieties were of foreign origin with some exception on berry and nut crops.
For example, commercial cultivation of apple, the leading fruit crop, was based on 32 varieties which occupied 65.6% of the total orchards area. Of these, 19 varieties covered an area of over 1% each, and among them there were 5 varieties of folk breeding, only two of Soviet breeding (namely Pepin Shafranny and Slava Pobeditelyam), and 12 varieties of foreign origin. On the latter, five varieties (Golden Delicious, Red Delicious, Goldspur, Mantuaner and Starkrimson) were introduced after 1965 and their share in the total apple production has already reached 18%.
Commercial cultivation of pear is based on 15 varieties (63.4%) with not a single variety of Soviet breeding amongst them.
In plum cultivation, 14 varieties occupy 65.1% of areas under the crop. Of these, 5 major varieties (Anna Spat, Reine Claud d'Althan, Italian Prune, Common Prune, Agen), all foreign bred, make up 46.3% of the total area and were commercialised in 1982. Among the varieties bred in the USSR, the most widely spread are Sopernitsa (4.2% of land under plum, bred at the Moldavian Research Institute of Horticulture) and Chernosliv Samarkandsky (0.4% of land, bred at the Samarkand Branch of the R.R..Shreder Scientific Production Association).
All 12 major varieties of apricot (62.6% of total area) were commercialised before 1960. With the exception of Krasnoshcheky (23.6%) and Nikitsky (bred at the Nikitsky Botanical Gardens) the rest are of folk breeding.
The two leading commercial varieties of peach are the American varieties Golden Jubilee and Elberta which together comprise 17.9% of the total peach production. Another 15 major varieties make 53.9% of all peach plantings. Of these 15 varieties, six have been bred at the Nikitsky Botanical Gardens ,and two at the Samarkand branch of the R.R. Shreder Scientific Production Association.
Sour cherry is represented by 20 varieties, the major of which is the Lyubskaya variety (16.6%). Among the new varieties bred in the USSR, only Turgenevka is worth mentioning. This variety was commercialised in 1979 and occupies 0.6% of areas under sour cherry.
For sweet cherry, the breeding achievements of the Ukrainian Institute of Irrigated Fruit Growing should be mentioned, as 4 varieties bred at the institute make up 16.9% of the total sweet cherry production, These joined the top ten commercial varieties the share of which is 57%. Nevertheless, in sweet cherry cultivation the leading place is held by an old German variety, Dragans Gelbe (13.3%).
Among small-fruit crops cultivated in the USSR, black current held first place in terms of occupied areas. The share of 11 varieties amounted to 77.5% of these lands, including 28.6% under Golubka variety and 22.2% under Pamyat' Michurina. The 5 leading varieties have been bred at the M.A. Lisavenko Siberian Research Institute of Horticulture and the Byelorussian Research Institute of Vegetable, Potato and Fruit Growing. Practically no foreign varieties are used in commercial cultivation.
55.1% of the area under strawberry was shared by only three varieties: Festivalnaya, Senga Sengana and Yasna. The type of ripening of these three does not provide for a long marketing period.
From the above, it becomes obvious that for many crops the number of commercial new varieties bred in Russia is negligible and is increasing slowly. To a considerable extent, this is a consequence of the mechanism of breeding, testing and introducing new varieties into commercial utilisation that was accepted in the USSR. For instance, from 40 to 60 years are required in apple breeding for implementing the whole chain from hybridisation to releasing the commercial variety.
In 1989, Professor E.N. Sedov elaborated a set of recommendations with respect to expediting the process of developing, testing and introducing new varieties into commercial production. To this end, application of all techniques for shortening the juvenile period in fruit plants are recommended: these are selection of early maturing initial varieties, creation of optimum conditions for growing seedlings, use of glass houses, dwarf rootstock, etc.
Combination of the above makes it possible to release apple varieties in 25 years, and in some cases in 12 to 16 years. Following his own recommendations Prof E.N. Sedov has already submitted to State Variety Trials several apple varieties, work on which had been started 11 to 12 years ago. These are the varieties Imrus, Chistotel and Orlovsky Pioneer, all featuring resistance to apple scab [7].
Small fruit crops occupied an important place in horticultural production of the USSR. The Central Belt the North-West of Russia, the Baltic Republics, the Urals, Siberia and the Far East are areas of wide distribution of small fruits. They are also popular in the Ukraine, Northern Caucasus, Moldavia and Kazakhstan.
In 1987-1989, the areas under small fruit crops remained stable and totalled 135 thousand hectares, while the annual yield of berries grew up to 515 thousand tons. This rate of production provided a per capita consumption of just 1.4 kg a year, only one third of the amount recommended by the Institute of Nutrition of the Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR. For other crops, the rates of per capita consumption made 500g of current, 400g of strawberry, 200g of raspberry, 100g of gooseberry and 150g of other berries. For comparison, Poland held the first place with 5.3kg and the USA 7th place with 2.4kg per capita. These indices put the USSR 17th place in the world [1].
The largest portion of small fruit crops in agricultural production was in the Russian Federation, followed by the Ukraine, Byelorussia and Lithuania. The best yields were in the Baltic Republics and Byelorussia. In most of the horticultural collective and state farms in the USSR only smaller areas were allocated for cultivated berries. For example, only 128 collective farms had areas of 50 hectares or more under small fruit crops.
In the former USSR, the most popular small fruit crop was black currant because of its relatively high winter hardiness, tolerance to growth environments, simplicity of propagation and the possibilities of making its cultivation and harvesting completely mechanised. During the period 1970 to 1990, there was released a series of new varieties possessing a range of economically valuable characteristics, for instance, yielding ability of up to 10 tons per hectare and new cultivation technologies. For harvesting, home and foreign made berry harvesters have been used.
In 1986 the total area under currant was 62.6 thousand hectares including 44.1 thousand hectares of fruit bearing plantings. Bulk production amounted to 152 thousand tons at a yielding ability of 3.3 tons per hectare. The most successful collective and state farms harvested 4 tons per hectare and over. Up to 90% of the bulk production of berries was by private orchards. Among new varieties the most promising are Seyanets Golubki, Dikovinka, Pamyat' Lisavenko (bred at the M.A. Lisavenko Siberian Research Institute of Horticulture), Belorusskaya Sladkaya, Minai Shmyrev, Pilot A.Mamkin (bred at the Byelorussian Research Institute of Vegetable, Potato and Fruit Growing), and some other varieties.
In 1986 raspberry occupied 28.3 thousand hectares in the USSR and 62 thousand tons of berries were harvested. Factors that limited the development of this valuable crop were the prolonged absence of winter hardy varieties, productivity, resistance to diseases and pests and the low rate of mechanisation. However, by the beginning of the 1990's the work at the Research Fruit Growing Institute for the Non-Black Soil Belt and the Novosibirsk Zonal Experiment Station for Fruit Growing has resulted in the creation of promising raspberry varieties suitable for mechanised harvesting, and elaboration of technologies for intensive cultivation envisaging a high rate of mechanisation.
The USSR was the motherland of unique varieties of gooseberry characterised by resistance to mildew, absence of thorns, high productivity and quality of berries. These are Besshipny, Yubilyar, Chernoslivovy, Slivovy, Shalun, Gulliver (bred at the All Union Research Institute of Horticulture by K.D. Sergeyeva). Several valuable varieties have been bred at the North Caucasus Zonal Research Institute of Fruit Growing and Viticulture, the Research Fruit Growing Institute for the Non Black Soil Belt and the Ukrainian Fruit Growing Institute. The areas under gooseberry in the USSR reached 12.6 thousand hectares, and the total annual yield made 55 thousand tons.
Strawberry was cultivated on 46.6 thousand hectares, and in 1986 the bulk production totalled, 137 thousand tons, including 152.8 thousand tons grown in private orchards. Average yields reached 5 tons per hectare, while in the advanced state and collective farms this figure made from 7 to 10 tons per hectare. In commercial production, 92 varieties were used, 73 of which had been bred in the USSR.
Introduction of new small-fruit crops like blue honeysuckle, Viburnum, Actinidia has been started.
By the end of the 1980's, a number of new varieties were introduced into commercial cultivation, for instance 10 of black current, 1 of red current, 1 of gooseberry, 7 raspberry varieties, 7 of strawberry, 1 of blue honeysuckle and 2 of sea buckthorn.
Some newly released varieties (18 of black current, 6 of gooseberry, 6 of sea buckthorn, 7 of strawberry and 6 of raspberry) have been submitted to State Variety Trials. The plan of fruit growing in the USSR till 2005 envisages breeding 204 new varieties including 75 of black current, 8 of red current, 17 of gooseberry, 23 of raspberry, 23 of strawberry, 16 of blue honeysuckle, 22 of sea buckthorn, 4 of viburnum, 4 of bird cherry, 3 of dog rose, 5 of Actinidia, 2 of Schizandra, and 2 of Oleaster.
Private household plots and collective gardens are gradually becoming the major producers of fruits, berries and nuts. Apparently, their share in bulk production will keep increasing.
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2. Kurennoy, N. M. / Koltunov, V. F. / Cherepakhin, V. I. /1985/ Fruit Growing. Moscow.
3. Kuznetsov, V. N. /1987/ Acceleration of the scientific and technical progress in fruit-growing. /in Russian/. Plodoovoshchnoe khozyaistvo, N1.
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