Articles
Fig rootstocks screening for rain-fed cultivation in Iran
Article number
1405_7
Pages
61 – 70
Language
English
Abstract
Iran is one of the most important producers of dry fig fruits in the world.
Rain-fed fig cultivation is on the rise because of climate changes, diminishing water resources, and the high price of dry fig fruit.
Water stress (drought) and canker diseases pose the most substantial challenges to the growth of figs in rain-fed agricultural practices.
However, these stresses can be managed through the use of appropriate rootstocks.
Research spanning 13 years (2010-2023) revealed that the ‘Sabz’ cultivar, the most widely grown fig cultivar in Iran, exhibits less drought tolerance compared to other edible fig cultivars, including ‘Siah’, ‘Dehdez’, ‘Matti’ (clonal), and ‘C8’ and ‘C1’ (hybrid seedlings). The study indicates that grafting the ‘Sabz’ cultivar onto clonal and seedling rootstocks demonstrates that ‘Siah’, ‘Matti’, and ‘C8’ are the most optimal rootstocks for drought resistance, water absorption, nutrient uptake under extreme water stress conditions, and recovery phases.
Evaluation of fig cultivars susceptibility to Diaporthe canker was conducted on saplings of ten droughts and/or salinity-tolerant Iranian fig cultivars, including commercial dried fig (‘Sabz’ and ‘Payves’), fresh fig (‘Matti’, ‘Shah Anjeer,’ ‘Siah’, and ‘Siah-e-Dorosht’), wild (‘Dehdez’, and ‘Gilasi’) and hybrid (‘C8-M’ (‘Sabz’ × ’Khormaei’), and ‘C8-F’ (‘Sabz’ × ’Khormaei’). The susceptibility of these ten cultivars to a highly aggressive Diaporthe cinerascens isolate was evaluated based on five pathogenicity characteristics, including lesion length, lesion width, numbers of pycnidia, latent period, and length of wood discoloration.
These cultivars were clustered into non-susceptible (‘Matti’), semi-susceptible (the majority of the cultivars), and susceptible (‘Dehdez’ and ‘Gilasi’) cultivars.
Also, we could identify drought tolerant cultivar ‘Matti’ as a non-susceptible cultivar to fig Diaporthe canker that can be used as a progenitor or rootstock in future breeding or horticulture programs.
Additionally, ten canker-associated ascomycete pathogens were identified from different fig canker types in the main fig plantations in Iran, based on morphological and phylogenetic data.
The pathogenicity of the recovered pathogens was assessed via the fulfillment of Koch’s postulates.
This study was a comprehensive revision on fig canker-associated pathogens in Iran that is critical in understanding fig canker epidemiology and adopting sustainable management practices for the diseases.
Rain-fed fig cultivation is on the rise because of climate changes, diminishing water resources, and the high price of dry fig fruit.
Water stress (drought) and canker diseases pose the most substantial challenges to the growth of figs in rain-fed agricultural practices.
However, these stresses can be managed through the use of appropriate rootstocks.
Research spanning 13 years (2010-2023) revealed that the ‘Sabz’ cultivar, the most widely grown fig cultivar in Iran, exhibits less drought tolerance compared to other edible fig cultivars, including ‘Siah’, ‘Dehdez’, ‘Matti’ (clonal), and ‘C8’ and ‘C1’ (hybrid seedlings). The study indicates that grafting the ‘Sabz’ cultivar onto clonal and seedling rootstocks demonstrates that ‘Siah’, ‘Matti’, and ‘C8’ are the most optimal rootstocks for drought resistance, water absorption, nutrient uptake under extreme water stress conditions, and recovery phases.
Evaluation of fig cultivars susceptibility to Diaporthe canker was conducted on saplings of ten droughts and/or salinity-tolerant Iranian fig cultivars, including commercial dried fig (‘Sabz’ and ‘Payves’), fresh fig (‘Matti’, ‘Shah Anjeer,’ ‘Siah’, and ‘Siah-e-Dorosht’), wild (‘Dehdez’, and ‘Gilasi’) and hybrid (‘C8-M’ (‘Sabz’ × ’Khormaei’), and ‘C8-F’ (‘Sabz’ × ’Khormaei’). The susceptibility of these ten cultivars to a highly aggressive Diaporthe cinerascens isolate was evaluated based on five pathogenicity characteristics, including lesion length, lesion width, numbers of pycnidia, latent period, and length of wood discoloration.
These cultivars were clustered into non-susceptible (‘Matti’), semi-susceptible (the majority of the cultivars), and susceptible (‘Dehdez’ and ‘Gilasi’) cultivars.
Also, we could identify drought tolerant cultivar ‘Matti’ as a non-susceptible cultivar to fig Diaporthe canker that can be used as a progenitor or rootstock in future breeding or horticulture programs.
Additionally, ten canker-associated ascomycete pathogens were identified from different fig canker types in the main fig plantations in Iran, based on morphological and phylogenetic data.
The pathogenicity of the recovered pathogens was assessed via the fulfillment of Koch’s postulates.
This study was a comprehensive revision on fig canker-associated pathogens in Iran that is critical in understanding fig canker epidemiology and adopting sustainable management practices for the diseases.
Publication
Authors
M. Jafari, M. Rahemi, Z. Bolboli, R. Mostowfizadeh-Ghalamfarsa
Keywords
Ficus carica, rootstocks, drought, canker, susceptibility evaluation
Groups involved
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