ACHIEVEMENT OF ASPARAGUS BREEDING IN ITALY

The asparagus crop in Italy is grown under two main climates: “Continental” in the north and “Mediterranean” in the center and south.

A breeding program based on in vitro anther culture of the cultivar Early of Argenteuil have allowed the development of all-male hybrids well adapted to North Italy but not to the south.
In order to widen the gene pool of doubled haploid clones, foreign cultivars of asparagus were utilized as anther donors and hybrids were obtained by hybridizing doubled haploid (DH) clones of different origin.
Out of 130 hybrids tested, three appeared to perform better than the control either in the north or in the south and two expressed a good yield potential in both parts of the country.

IX International Asparagus Symposium

A. Falavigna, P.E. Casali, A. Battaglia

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1999.479.6