Post-Cryogenic Viability of Peach ( Persica vulgaris Mill.) Dormant Buds from the VIR Genetic Collection

The long-term storage of the genetic resources of fruit crops for breeding needs can be freely developed by cryopreservation cuttings with dormant buds in liquid nitrogen vapor, but so far, this method has not been practically used for peach. Cuttings with dormant buds of five peach varieties growing in the field gene bank at Krymsk Experiment and Breeding Station of VIR were collected for cryopreservation in 2019–2021. The three-factor analysis of variance showed that the viability of peach cuttings was significantly affected by the year ( p < 0.001) and variety ( p < 0.001). According to the three-year average characteristics of the cultivars, the analysis of variance showed a significant difference in the viability of the cultivars after cryopreservation ( p = 0.004). According to the results of the three years of study, cvs. ‘Podarok Kryma’ (43.3%) and ‘Lucky 24 B’ (44.4%) showed the lowest viability after cryopreservation, significantly lower than cvs. ‘Baby Gold’ (54.4%) and ‘Ustojchivy 90′ (55.6%). Cv. ‘Lyubimets Krasnodara’ (48.9%) occupied an intermediate position. These viability values exceeded the minimum requirement for samples subjected to long-term cryogenic storage in a cryobank. Low-temperature storage of peach cuttings at –5 °C can be used for short-term preservation. After low-temperature storage, the viability of peach cutting amounted to an average of 67.1%.