Grapevine breeding studies in Turkey

Turkey has a very old history concerning viticulture, and grapes are grown for different purposes in almost every region of the country. Turkey is among the world’s leading grape producing countries in terms of area and production amount. It has 405,439 ha of vineyard area and production is approximately 4.1 million t. In Turkey, grapes have been mainly grown as table grapes (52%), raisins (38%), juice and wine (10%) in nine viticultural regions. Grapevine breeding programs continue in different institutions in order to develop high quality new grape cultivars in Turkey as well as all over the world. These breeding studies continue mainly in different Research Institutes working under the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. In particular, Yalova Atatürk Horticultural Central Research Institute (YAHCRI), Tekirdağ Viticulture Research Institute (TVRI) and Manisa Viticulture Research Institute (MVRI) have registered many grape cultivars as a result of the breeding studies they have been carrying out for many years. In addition, a small number of breeding studies are carried out in different Universities in Turkey (such as Ankara, Gaziosmanpaşa, Akdeniz University). In different breeding studies, it was aimed to develop new grape cultivars, especially high quality and resistant to different biotic/abiotic stress conditions. In this study, information about new grape cultivars developed in breeding studies carried out in the past and still ongoing breeding studies are given.