A SELECTION FOR DISEASE-FREE MATERIAL OF CITRUS, STONE AND POME FRUITS IN REUNION ISLAND

The fruit industry is entirely dependent on phytosanitary measures for ensuring the provision of healthy plant material.
For fruit trees, both rootstocks and scions have to be checked in order to avoid the incidence of viruses, mycoplasma or bacterial organisms.
The citrus phytosanitary selection programme on Reunion includes regular inspection of 30 cultivars of oranges, mandarins and their hybrids, grapefruits and lemons, including one line preimmunised against tristeza, and 19 different rootstocks.
Tolerance to severe strains of tristeza, vienation woody gall and citrus cancer is also checked.

All the cultivars tested were virus-free material received from Corsica.

For stone and pome fruits with a low chilling requirement, 14 cultivars of peaches and nectarines, one of plum and two of apple have been indexed under the INRA/CTIFL regulations.
Nematode-tolerant rootstocks are being propagated.
Roots are treated with K 84 Kerr strain in order to prevent attacks of crown-gall.

Mango cultivars which are tolerant to bacterial black spot have also been selected; this disease is the cause of serious economic loss in Reunion Island.

IX African Symposium on Horticultural Crops

B. Aubert

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1985.153.3