Contribution of the Institute of field and vegetable crops to the advancement of vegetable production in the last 70 years

Vegetables comprise a fairly large number of crop species differing phenotypically and genotypically as well as in how they are grown and used. The main task of vegetable production is increased production of quality vegetables. In this context, breeding is of special importance as the basis for the development of new and improved cultivars and hybrids. Breeding of vegetables has always had as its goal the development of cultivars with increased genetic potentials for yield for the purpose of increasing total vegetable production and the quality of human nutrition. In the last few decades, new techniques have been added to the list of traditional methods of breeding and developing new vegetable cultivars. The new methods of vegetable selection have focused on resolving the issues of early maturity, heterosis, inheritance of certain traits, resistance to diseases and pests, and so on. The vegetable cultivars developed at the Institute have been designed not only to have a high genetic potential for yield but also to be able to satisfy the requirements of the discerning vegetable market in terms of appearance and taste as well as to be well-adapted to the domestic agroecological conditions. The Institute's vegetable program has released on the domestic and foreign markets a range of cultivars intended for fresh use, processing and canning that can be successfully grown year round both indoors and outdoors. Povrće je skup većeg broja biljnih vrsta koje se međusobno razlikuju kako po fenotipu i genotipu tako i po načinu gajenja i korišćenja. Osnovni zadatak u proizvodnji povrća jeste povećanje proizvodnje kvalitetnog povrća. Od posebnog značaja za takav vid povećanja proizvodnje jeste selekcija kao osnova stvaranja novih i boljih sorti i hibrida. Oplemenjivanje povrtarskih biljaka imalo je za cilj, u prošlosti i sadašnjosti, stvaranje soti većeg genetskog potencijala rodnosti, a za povećanje ukupne povrtarske proizvodnje, za bolju i kvalitetniju ljudsku ishranu. U poslednjih nekoliko decenija tradicionalni načini oplemenjivanja i stvaranja novih sorti prošireni su uvođenjem novih tehnika. Korišćenjem savremenih metoda oplemenjivanja kod povrtarskih biljaka rad je usmeren na rešavanja pitanja ranostasnosti, heterozisa, nasleđivanja pojedinih osobina, otpornosti prema bolestima i štetočinama, itd. Pored stvaranja sorti visokog genetičkog prinosa, vodilo se računa i o tome da sorte svojim izgledom i ukusom zado- voljavaju zahteve probirljivog tržišta povrća i da su prilagođene našim agroekološkim uslovima gajenja. Stvoren je određeni sortiment povrća priznat u zemlji i inostranstvu, a može uspešno da se gaji tokom cele godine na otvorenom polju i u zaštićenom prostoru namenjen korišćenju svežem, prerađenom i konzervisanom stanju.