CURRENT PROGRESS IN THE HAZELNUT BREEDING PROGRAM AT THE FRUIT TREE RESEARCH CENTRE – ROME

The Italian hazelnut industry is mainly based on 3-5 cultivars, which are cultivated only in specific geographical areas.
In the region of Latium the most common cultivar is ‘Tonda Gentile Romana’ which, however, has undesirable characteristics from an agronomic point of view (high tendency to sucker), mediocre nut quality (poor blanching rate), and high susceptibility to some diseases (bacterial canker and decline). The improvement of this cultivar is necessary, as is the introduction of new genetic material appropriate for industry and table use (nuts sold in-shell).
To achieve these objectives, the CRA – Fruit Tree Research Centre has for the last decade been working on a clonal selection program for ‘Tonda Gentile Romana’ and on a genetic improvement program with cross-breeding of Italian and foreign cultivars.
The clonal selection program of the ‘Tonda Romana’, carried out in the Viterbo area, allowed the identification of promising clones that are currently under final evaluation.
Regarding the breeding program, data has been collected since 2005 on vegetative characteristics of seedlings and, in successive years, data has been collected also for productive and qualitative characteristics of the nuts.
Currently six seedlings stand out for their good agronomical characteristics, low suckering, good nut and seed traits.

VII International Congress on Hazelnut

F.R. De Salvador, D. Lolletti, A. Sabelli

hazelnut, seedling, cultivar, ‘Tonda Gentile Romana’

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2009.845.15