Cacanska rana

Čačanska Rana is a premium domestic plum variety, developed at the Fruit Research Institute in Čačak by Dr Staniša A. Paunović, Dr Milojko Ranković, and Dr Dobrivoje Ogašanović, and released into wide commercial production in 1975. It was created through planned crossing of Wangenheims Frühzwetsche and Požegača. Due to its extremely early flowering and ripening, giant fruit size, and attractive appearance, this variety regularly achieves the highest market price and represents the absolute standard among early summer table plums.

It is a fully cross-pollinated variety. It cannot set fruit with its own pollen, so the presence of compatible pollinator varieties that flower at the same time is essential in the orchard. The German variety Ruth Gerstetter has proven to be the best pollinator in the field, while Čačanska Lepotica and Stanley are also excellent pollinators. It flowers early to medium-early.

The tree is very vigorous, strong, and robust in youth, with an open, spacious, and pyramidal canopy and exceptionally strong scaffold branches with wide branch angles. It enters the fruiting stage early, as early as the third year after planting. Yields are moderate to good, but may vary significantly on poorer sites if unfavorable spring conditions occur during early flowering, such as rain and cold winds, which interfere with bee activity and the fertilization process. It requires proper pruning and branch bending during the first two years in order to reduce vigor and stimulate productivity.

It belongs to the group of very early summer table plum varieties. In our region and under continental climatic conditions, it ripens first, at the end of June and in early July, under Serbian conditions usually between June 25 and July 5, opening the new fruit-growing season on the market.

Harvesting takes place at the end of June and in early July. Since it achieves the highest price on green markets and in supermarkets during this period, the fruit is harvested selectively and in several passes, exclusively by hand.

Its fresh-storage ability is moderately good for the first summer plum. In cold storage, it can be successfully kept for 5–7 days. Unlike old early varieties with soft and watery flesh, Čačanska Rana is characterized by exceptional firmness, which allows it to tolerate picking, packing, handling, and long-distance transport to foreign markets very well, while retaining full freshness. It is primarily intended for exclusive fresh table consumption.

The fruit is exceptionally large to giant for the early season, with an average weight of 40 to over 50 g, while with excellent agricultural practice individual fruit can reach over 60 g. It is uniform and regular, with an ovoid-oval shape. The skin is thin but firm, with an attractive violet-blue to dark blue color and pinkish overtones, completely covered with a fine, light blue waxy bloom. The flesh is yellow to golden-amber at full maturity, very firm, compact, juicy, and exceptionally refreshing in taste, with a perfect balance of sugars and acids. The stone is relatively large and elongated, and the variety belongs to the group of true freestone plums: it separates from the flesh completely easily, smoothly, and cleanly.

It is susceptible to Plum pox virus, which is its greatest cultivation drawback in the field. Infected fruit develop scab-like marks, lose juiciness, become acidic, and drop prematurely before harvest. For this reason, orchards should be established exclusively in non-infected regions, with mandatory use of completely healthy, certified planting material. It is moderately susceptible to Monilinia and blight, and due to its very early flowering, its flower buds may be sensitive to late spring frosts, so warmer, elevated, and frost-protected vineyard sites should be selected. It shows excellent resistance of the wood to low winter temperatures.

Our plum fruit trees are produced on the highly compatible, standard rootstock Myrobalan plum, Prunus cerasifera, with which this variety achieves a perfect graft union, excellent tree longevity, and outstanding adaptability to different soil types.