APRICOT ADAPTABILITY UNDER THE ROMANIAN CLIMATIC CONDITIONS

Research on the adaptability of 665 apricot phenotypes from seven geographic areas, preserved in the genetic collections, 9000 hybrids and 35 variety created in Romania, have shown that, out of 27 seven years (1981-2007), seven years were unfavourable to apricot growing (of which four years were successive in the first decade of this century). Over the past four years, the short frost periods (-7 0 C), sometimes lasting for only several hours, following longer warm periods at the end of February (+12 0 C, +20 0 C), affected the apricot phenotypes in their early budding or flowering stage. The damage resulted was 90-100% . The consequences of the climatic changes are significant with respect to the biological transformation of the fruiting and vegetative organs and, further on correlated to the biology of the most frequent pathogens, pests and predators in Romania.