VVA-1 KRYMSK - The rootstock for intensive plum production

For profitable plum production, it is important to keep the tree small, thus limiting pruning and picking costs. However, this inhibited growth should not be sustained at the expense of the productivity of the tree or the size of the fruit. The new VVA-1 Krymsk® rootstock satisfies these demands. Trees growing on this rootstock grow at a calm pace, producing good crops.

Productivity
Several tests have shown that the VVA-1 is a very promising rootstock. One ponderous argument in favour of this rootstock as compared to existing rootstocks is its early fruit bearing, which starts as early as in the second year.
Tests have proven that the production in the first two years is over twice as high compared to St Julien A. This allows for fast recouping of investments in new plant material. Moreover, the realization of a much higher production continues into later growth stages.

Vigour
Trees on a VVA-1 rootstock grow at a calm pace. Compared to St Julien A, we can observe a difference of over 40 per cent. This means that trees on a VVA-1 rootstock are extremely well suited for high-density production systems.

Growth inhibiting measures such as root pruning and trunk incisions are therefore unnecessary. This fact can be regarded as a major advantage considering the adverse impact on fruit size both these measures entail.

Fruit size
Vigour and fruit size are issues that are closely related. A decline in vegetative growth will often also result in a reduction of the size of the fruit. The Pixy rootstock provided an illustrative example. However, using the VVA-1 rootstock, we can realize the reverse. Despite the increase in production, the average fruit weight is equal to or greater than that of St Julien A.