DEFINING THE LIMITS OF ALMOND PRODUCTIVITY TO FACILITATE MARKER ASSISTED SELECTION AND ORCHARD MANAGEMENT

A long-term study over a range of high-input production environments was performed to identify key genetic determinants for almond tree yield.
The cultivars showing the highest annual yields also demonstrated high levels of spur-production that were uniformly distributed throughout the photosynthetically active tree canopy.
Yields as high as 5 to 6 metric tons per hectare were achieved in the best cultivar/environment combinations.
Kernel size in these very high yielding plantings averaged approximately 1 g in mass.
Spur-production showed advantages over shoot-production in terms of final yield as well as final flower-set proportion.
Cumulative yields, however, were maximized in cultivars which although primarily spur-bearing, expressed a partial shoot bearing habit during the initial years of tree growth, as well as regenerative shoot growth in older trees which have lost bearing potential either through branch loss or loss of entire adjacent trees.
Spur development and spur-renewal along with trees size and architecture thus represent promising targets for almond improvement either through appropriate cultural management or through targeted genetic selections.

V International Symposium on Pistachios and Almonds

T.M. Gradziel , B.D. Lampinen

almond, yield, bearing habit, tree architecture, light interception, kernel size, cultivars

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2011.912.3