BREEDING PROGRAM AT THE ISTITUTO SPERIMENTALE PER LA FRUTTICOLTURA – ROMA: RECENT ACQUISITIONS

Twelve years ago, a kiwifruit breeding program was begun at the Istituto Sperimentale per la Frutticoltura (ISF) with the main aim of diversify the range of cultivars in the industry which is currently based on the single worldwide cultivar ‘Hayward’. A second objective was to find a male cultivar with a flowering time overlapping that of ‘Hayward’. A third aim was the selection of rootstocks resistant to nematodes and tolerant of salinity.

Several breeding methods were used: cross pollination among ‘Hayward’ x A. melanandra and A. arguta; open-pollinated (o.p.) seeds from China of A. deliciosa and of A. chinensis; irradiation with X-rays of ‘Hayward’, both in vivo and in vitro; in vitro selection for salt tolerance; artificial inoculation of young seedlings with crown-gall nematodes and lesion nematodes.

Promising selections have been obtained from o.p. seedlings of A. chinensis: fruit size varying from 60–120 g, flesh colour from green to yellow, harvest time from 45 days before up to that of ‘Hayward’. Promising selections were also obtained from o.p. seedlings of A. deliciosa. Very little variability has been observed in irradiated material, both in vivo and in vitro. A male selection fully overlapping the flowering of ‘Hayward’ has been selected.
Selections with higher salt tolerance and nematodes tolerance were also obtained.

IV International Symposium on Kiwifruit

A. Nicotra, L. Moser, E. Caboni, C. Damiano, A.M. Simeone, F. Monastra, C. Fideghelli, R.F. De Salvador, L. Rivalta, M. Dradi, A. Bergamini, A. Testoni

Actinidia deliciosa, Actinidia chinensis, Actinidia arguta, Actinidia melanandra, salt tolerance, nematode resistance, induced mutation

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1999.498.6