Data on: Flowering synchrony and cultivar compatibility as key factors for optimising sweet cherry pollination and production

Effective pollination management is essential for optimised yields in animal-pollinated crops. Sweet cherry (Prunus avium) is a crop with 82% of its production associated with animal pollination. Therefore, factors impacting pollination play a key role in sweet cherry production. These factors are often accounted for in pollinator management and orchard design; however, flower phenology, cultivar compatibility, and their impacts on yield are poorly understood and often not considered.
We investigated how flowering overlap among cultivars and cultivar inter- and self-compatibility impact sweet cherry cultivars' suitability as pollen donors and recipients in Beira Interior, a key production region in Portugal. For this, we performed floral biology experiments in the field and under controlled greenhouse conditions. We compared the pollination success of compatible cultivars sharing one S-allele or none. We also assessed pollinator dependence and pollen limitation levels of the studied cultivars, as well as natural pollen deposition and fruit set levels.