Articles
SCREENING OF ARC-BRED STONE-FRUIT ROOTSTOCKS FOR TOLERANCE TO WATERLOGGING CONDITIONS
Article number
1058_68
Pages
543 – 546
Language
English
Abstract
Global warming is causing climatic changes that will pose significant difficul-ties to crop growth in many parts of the world.
The South African stone-fruit industry is currently dependent on a few high-chill imported commercial rootstocks that in many cases are not adapted to local soil and climatic conditions.
There is a need there¬fore to continue to improve stone-fruit rootstocks with increased tolerance to harsh environmental conditions such as poor drainage.
The South African Agricultural Research Council (ARC) has a breeding and evaluation programme to address such problems.
The main objectives of the programme are to breed low-chill stone-fruit rootstocks (peaches, plums, nectarines, apricots and interspecies hybrids) with special emphasis on resistance and/or tolerance to nematodes (root-knot and ring), drought, waterlogging, high pH soils and lime induced iron chlorosis.
This report focuses on tolerance to waterlogging.
Twelve ARC-bred stone-fruit rootstock hybrids were screened for waterlogging tolerance under controlled glasshouse conditions during 2009/10, 2010/11 and 2011/12 at the ARC Infruitec-Nietvoorbij facility at Bien Donné Experimental Farm, Simondium, Western Cape.
Four hybrids were tolerant under these conditions and were promoted to Phase 2 for determination of rooting ability and grafting compatibility under nursery conditions.
Two hybrids from the four promoted were included in a statistically designed orchard trial established in 2011 for evaluating production potential under field conditions.
The stone-fruit rootstock breeding programme is thus continuing to breed very promising stone-fruit rootstocks suitable for South African commercial growers and emerging farmers.
The South African stone-fruit industry is currently dependent on a few high-chill imported commercial rootstocks that in many cases are not adapted to local soil and climatic conditions.
There is a need there¬fore to continue to improve stone-fruit rootstocks with increased tolerance to harsh environmental conditions such as poor drainage.
The South African Agricultural Research Council (ARC) has a breeding and evaluation programme to address such problems.
The main objectives of the programme are to breed low-chill stone-fruit rootstocks (peaches, plums, nectarines, apricots and interspecies hybrids) with special emphasis on resistance and/or tolerance to nematodes (root-knot and ring), drought, waterlogging, high pH soils and lime induced iron chlorosis.
This report focuses on tolerance to waterlogging.
Twelve ARC-bred stone-fruit rootstock hybrids were screened for waterlogging tolerance under controlled glasshouse conditions during 2009/10, 2010/11 and 2011/12 at the ARC Infruitec-Nietvoorbij facility at Bien Donné Experimental Farm, Simondium, Western Cape.
Four hybrids were tolerant under these conditions and were promoted to Phase 2 for determination of rooting ability and grafting compatibility under nursery conditions.
Two hybrids from the four promoted were included in a statistically designed orchard trial established in 2011 for evaluating production potential under field conditions.
The stone-fruit rootstock breeding programme is thus continuing to breed very promising stone-fruit rootstocks suitable for South African commercial growers and emerging farmers.
Publication
Authors
S. Booi
Keywords
climatic adaptability, Prunus, rootstock breeding, tolerance
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