Low chilling requirement is the main characteristic for the economic cultivation of peaches under subtropical climate conditions, therefore it should be the most important objective in breeding programs for these regions. The aim of this work was to evaluate and to select peach progenies with low chilling requirement through detached twigs methodology, to indicate a good genitor for using in the breeding program with this characteristic. A total of 180 genotypes, from 25 peach populations, were observed. The genotypes of each population varied from three to nineteen plants. The twigs were submitted to 50, 100, 150, 200 and 400 chilly units. once the treatments were concluded, the twigs were transferred to a greenhouse and after twenty one days the budbreak and flowering were evaluated. The results obtained allowed to select five populations and twenty nine peach genotypes with the low chilling requirement characteristic. The variety Real was an efficient female genitor for obtaining low chilling requirement in peaches.
Prunus persica; dormancy; budbreak
