Orlovskiy Pioneer

Autumn apple variety, resistant to scab (with gene Vm), developed at the All-Russian Research Institute of Fruit Crop Breeding through hybridization in 1976 (Antonovka Krasnobochka x SR 0523). Seed sowing was conducted in 1977, and selection of seedlings for elite status occurred in 1985. Breeders: E. N. Sedov, Z. M. Serova, V. V. Zhdanov, Y. I. Khabarov.

The variety was accepted for State Testing in 1989 and included in the State Register of Breeding Achievements approved for use in the Central Region in 1999.

Trees of moderate growth with a rounded, moderately dense crown. Main branches are curved, emerging from the trunk at an angle close to straight. Branch tips point upward. Bark on the trunk and main branches is smooth and gray. Predominant fruiting forms are simple and complex clusters.

Shoots are thick, straight, round in cross-section, brown, hairy. Buds are pressed close, small, conical, weakly hairy. Leaves are medium-sized, elongated, egg-shaped, long-pointed with a spirally twisted tip, dark green, smooth, shiny, with delicate venation. Leaf blade is slightly concave, curved downward, weakly hairy. Leaf margin is finely toothed, wavy. Petiole is medium length and thickness, hairy. Stipules are medium-sized, lanceolate. Fruit buds are medium-sized, hairy, elongated.

Flowers are medium-sized, buds white-pink, petals light-pink, closed, stigma lower than anthers.

Fruits are medium-sized, one-dimensional, strongly flattened (onion-shaped), with ribbed surface, slightly angled. Skin is smooth, dry, shiny. Main fruit color at harvest is greenish, becoming light-yellow at consumption. Cover color consists of a diffuse blush and red stripes on most of the fruit. Subdermal dots are numerous, small, greenish, barely noticeable. Peduncle is medium length and thickness, curved, upright. Calyx tube is acute-conical, narrow, with slight rust or none. Receptacle is closed. Disk is medium-sized. Heart is medium-sized, onion-shaped. Chambers are open, medium-sized. Subcalyx tube is medium length, narrow, sac-like. Seeds are medium-sized, egg-shaped, brown.

Flesh is greenish, firm, juicy, with good sour-sweet flavor, either without aroma or with slight aroma. Chemical composition: total sugars — 11.0%, titratable acids — 0.80%, ascorbic acid — 16.2 mg/100g, P-active substances — 522 mg/100g, pectic substances — 16.4%.

Harvest maturity occurs in the second half of August. Consumer period lasts from early September to late October.

The first fruiting of a rootstock tree of the 'Orlovskiy Pioneer' variety occurred in 1985, at age 9 of the seedling. In the initial variety trial garden on interstock 3-3-72, the variety began fruiting at age 5 in the garden when planted as one-year-old seedlings. The variety is highly productive. In 1991, the maximum yield was recorded — 494 centners/ha. Average yield for this variety is 230 centners/ha, whereas for the control variety 'Osenneye Ploschatoye' it was only 140 centners/ha.

The variety's winter hardiness is sufficient for cultivation in the Central Region of Russia. During the winter of 1986-1987, when air temperature dropped to -32ºC and surface snow temperature to -35ºC, trees exhibited slight frost damage (1.0 point), similar to the control variety 'Osenneye Ploschatoye'.

Advantages of the variety: resistance to four out of five scab races, high fruit yield and marketability.

Disadvantages of the variety: fruit size reduction under heavy fruit load and insufficient pruning.