Porfiry Afanasyevich Dibrova: at the origins of scientific pomiculture in the Urals

Porfiry Afanasyevich Dibrova was one of the first scientists and breeders standing at the origins of scientific pomiculture in the Urals. He was the author of 23 cultivars of apple, six of pear, one of sour cherry, and one of black currant. In the 1940s, he was the leader of collecting missions exploring the local assortment of fruit and berry crops in 50 districts of Sverdlovsk and Molotov (Perm) Provinces, and the Udmurt Republic. P.A. Dibrova was one of the authors of the first standard set of fruit and berry cultivars for the abovementioned areas. He studied regularities in the inheritance of valuable agronomic and biological traits of fruit crops and identified promising sources for apple and pear breeding. He launched the main plant breeding trends in the Middle Urals, now followed by contemporary breeders: the development of highly winter-hardy cultivars of apple and pear with fruiting precocity, stable yields, excellent fruit quality, and improved biochemical composition in fruits.

1. Biryukov M.P., Bocharov V.M., Nashchekina A.S., Chistyakova L.A. (eds). Horticulture in the Middle Urals (Sadovodstvo Srednego Urala). 5th ed. Sverdlovsk: Middle Ural Book Publishers; 1968. [in Russian]

2. Biryukov M.P., Dibrov P.A., Levitin H.Z., Salnikov V.V. (eds). Horticulture in the Middle Urals (Sadovodstvo Srednego Urala). 3rd ed. Sverdlovsk: Sverdlovsk Book Publishers; 1960. [in Russian]

3. Bogdanova I.I., Demin N.S., Nashchekina A.S. A summary of activities by Sverdlovsk Horticultural Breeding Station for 75 years and prospects of its development (Itogi deyatelnosti Sverdlovskoy selektsionnoy stantsii sadovodstva za 75 let i perspektivy razvitiya). In: Scientific support of adaptive horticulture in the Ural Region (Nauchnoye obespecheniye adaptivnogo sadovodstva Uralskogo regiona). Yekaterinburg; 2010. p.4-28. [in Russian]

4. Dibrova P.A. Lists of local varieties identified by the station in the gardens of Sverdlovsk and Molotov Provinces and in the Udmurt ASSR by the end of 1941 (Spiski mestnykh sortov vyyavlennykh stantsiyey v sadakh Sverdlovskoy i Molotovskoy oblastey i Udmurtskoy ASSR na konets 1941 goda). Nizhneisetsk; 1942. [in Russian]

5. Dibrova P.A. New cultivars of apple trees in the Northern Urals (Novye sorta yabloni Severnogo Urala). Moscow: Selkhozgiz; 1940. [in Russian]

6. Dibrova P.A. On the question of the ways and methods of apple breeding for winter hardiness, early maturity, annual yield, and quality of fruits in the conditions of the Middle Urals (K voprosu o putyakh i metodakh selektsii yabloni na zimostoykost, skoroplodnost, yezhegodnuyu urozhaynost i kachestvo plodov v usloviyakh Srednego Urala). In: Collection of articles on the horticulture in the Middle Urals (Sbornik statey po sadovodstvu v usloviyakh Srednego Urala). Sverdlovsk; 1960. p.12-19. [in Russian]

7. Dibrova P.A., Gvozdyukova N.I., Tamarova A.F. Fruits and berries of the Urals. The best varieties of fruit and berry crops in Sverdlovsk and Molotov Provinces and in the Udmurt ASSR (Plody i yagody Urala. Luchshiye sorta plodovo-yagodnykh kultur Sverdlovskoy, Molotovskoy oblastey i Udmurtskoy ASSR). P.A. Dibrova (ed.). Sverdlovsk: Sverdlovsk Regional State Publishers; 1947. [in Russian]

8. Kotov L.A. In memory of Porfiry Afanasyevich Dibrovа (Pamyati Dibrova Porfiriya Afanasyevicha). In: Prospects for northern horticulture at the present stage: A collection of scientific papers (Perspektivy severnogo sadovodstva na sovremennom etape: sbornik nauchnykh trudov). Yekaterinburg: 2005; p.39-47. [in Russian]

9. Levitin H.Z. (ed.). Ural gardens (Uralskiye sady). Sverdlovsk: Sverdlovsk Book Publishers; 1953. [in Russian]

10. Michurin I.V. How to grow fruit trees in the Urals. (Kak vyrashchivat na Urale plodovye derevya). In: I. V. Michurin. Collected works. Vol. 4. Compilation. 2nd ed. Moscow: Selkhozgiz; 1948. р.171-176. [in Russian]

11. Salnikov V.V. (еd.). Horticulture in Sverdlovsk Province (Sadovodstvo Sverdlovskoy oblasti). 2nd ed. Sverdlovsk: Sverdlovsk Book Publishers; 1956. [in Russian]

12. Salnikov V.V., Levitin H.Z., Dibrova P.A. (eds). Horticulture in Sverdlovsk Province (Sadovodstvo Sverdlovskoy oblasti). Sverdlovsk: Sverdlovsk Regional State Publishers; 1952. [in Russian]

13. Sedov E.N. (ed.). Horticultural scientists of Russia. Brief biographical reference. (Sadovody-uchenye Rossii. Kratkiy biograficheskiy spravochnik). 2nd ed. Orel: VNIISPK; 2016. [in Russian]

14. Telezhinskiy D.D., Kotov L.A., Makarenko S.A., Tarasova G.N. Sverdlovchanin: a new apple cultivar for the Middle Urals. Proceedings on Applied Botany, Genetics and Breeding. 2020;181(1):93-96. [in Russian] DOI: 10.30901/2227-8834-2020-1-93-96

15. Vigorov L.I. Funds of high-vitamin apples and their use for breeding. (Fondy vysokovitaminnykh yablok i ikh ispolzovaniye dlya selektsii). In: Works on vitamins from natural raw materials (Trudy po vitaminam iz prirodnogo syrya). Ufa: Bashkir Book Publishers; 1971. p.134-140. [in Russian]

16. Vigorov L.I. Vitamin characteristics of new apple cultivars in the Middle-Ural assortment (Vitaminnaya kharakteristika novykh sortov yablok sredneuralskogo sortimenta). In: Collection of articles on the horticulture in the Middle Urals (Sbornik statey po sadovodstvu v usloviyakh Srednego Urala). Sverdlovsk; 1960. p.20-29. [in Russian]