InnOBreed CASE STUDY - The Apple OASIS Project, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

While the initial objective of the Apple Oasis project was to promote more local apple trees in the Danish landscape and develop new robust cultivars for organic growing, the current focus is on creating a collection of robust and tasty apple cultivars with great diversity, in cooperation with local volunteers.The Danish national genebank, the Pometum, has a collection of approximately 800 apple cultivars, of which approximately 280 are original Danish cultivars. In 2006-2009,the robustness of the old Danish cultivars was screened under unsprayed conditions. Based on this information and on the taste of the apples, 52 robust and tasty old Danish cultivars were selected as mother-cultivars for the Apple Oasis project. The activities of the Apple Oasis project contribute to InnOBreed by giving a new perspective on how different ways of participatory breeding can be done. The case study demonstrates what is possible to achieve, when releasing new combinations of apple genetic diversity from the genebank with the help of volunteers. The seedlings are grown in private gardens under unsprayed conditions, which means, that the natural pressure from diseases, pests and our new climate has wiped out the less robust seedlings. This more natural cross-breeding and selection might result in cultivars with a long lasting robustness. Which is what is needed in organic fruit growing.