Introduction of Attar a new early-ripening sweet cherry cultivar with suitable fruit quality

Introducing new sweet cherry cultivars with early ripening time is one of the most important goals of cherry breeding programs in Iran. The Attar cultivar was selected from the native sweet cherry germplasms of the Khorasan Razavi province by implementing eight research projects for 21 years since 1998. Evaluation of the vegetative, reproductive, and pomological characteristics of the genotypes along with other cultivars during 2005-2020 led to the introduction of the Attar cultivar. The results showed that Attar had semi-spreading tree habits with a moderate degree of branching. The time of the first flowering for Attar was in the second week of April. Results showed that this cultivar was self-incompatible. Siyah-e-Mashhad, Sweet Heart, and Dovomras-e-Mashhad cultivars were suitable pollinizers for the Attar cultivar. The harvesting time of Attar was in the first week of June. The average fruit weight of the Attar cultivar (7.73 g) was higher than those of the Shandiz (7.23 g) and Toos (6.87 g) cultivars. Also, the total soluble solids in Attar (19.87%) were higher than the Shandiz (16.63%) and Toos (17.13%) cultivars. The fruit yield of Attar in the economic fruiting stage was 40 kg per tree, which was higher than the Shandiz cultivar (22.43 kg). Fruit cracking disorder in the Attar cultivar was lower than other cultivars. Attar has a high economic value and therefore the development of this cherry cultivar can play an important role in increasing the income of cherry producers.