Advances in Peach, Nectarine and Plum Propagation

Abstract

Nursery trees of stone fruits (Prunus spp.) are traditionally produced by union of two distinct genotypes - the rootstock and the scion - which, by grafting, form a composite plant that will be maintained throughout of all plant life. In Brazil, the rootstocks are predominantly seed propagated and therefore usually results in heterogeneous trees for vigor and edaphic adaptation. However, with advances in rootstock breeding programs that released cultivars and certification in several countries (notably in Europe), the system will come gradually evolving for vegetative propagation (cuttings and tissue culture) and use of seeds of selected rootstocks with specific characteristics and potted nursery trees production. For scion cultivar propagation, the budding system (with its many variations) has predominantly been adopted in major producing countries. This review had as objective to comment main propagation methods adopted for rootstocks and scion in peach, nectarine and plum, and recent technical progress obtained as well as the needs of improvement for nursery tree production.

Prospecting for Nematodes Associated With Different Prunus Rootstocks in Brazil

“…Based on the prospecting data, it was evident that in the 'Industry' (a mixture of scions), 'Capdeboscq', 'Aldrighi' and 'Viamão' rootstocks, the incidence of Mesocriconema spp. and Meloidogyne spp., is high compared to their occurrence recorded in the ' Tsukuba', 'Nemaguard', 'Flordaguard', 'Okinawa' and 'Umezeiro' rootstocks. This data reinforces the need for changes in the production system of Prunus rootstocks in Brazil, since according to Mayer et al (2017), the tradition of using discarded stones from the peach-canning industry has been routine for decades.…”

“…The State of Rio Grande do Sul stands out as the largest producer in Brazil, with approximately 61% of the planted area (IBGE, 2018), although it is still the state with the lowest average productivity, around 10 ton ha -1 (Mayer et al, 2017).…”

“…The use of rootstocks with no genetic identity and susceptible to phytonematodes is one of the factors that has contributed to the low average productivity of peach orchards in Rio Grande do Sul (Mayer et al, 2017;Claverie et al, 2011). The occurrence of phytonematodes in stone-fruit trees has been associated with the decline of the plants in different producing regions around the world (Walters et al, 2008;Pinochet et al, 1996).…”

“…Some cultivars are referred to as resistant to root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne spp. ), such as Nemared (Ramming & Tanner, 1983), Flordaguard (Sherman et al, 1991), Guardian (Nyczepir et al, 1999), Okinawa , Umezeiro (Prunus mume) (Lecouls et al, 1997;Mayer et al, 2017) and MP-29 (Backman et al, 2012). Other genotypes with characteristics of interest are being investigated in Brazil, such as rootstocks of the Okinawa-roxo, Tsukuba 1, Tsukuba 2 and Tsukuba 3 cultivars (Souza et al, 2016;Souza et al, 2017a), as well as interspecific hybrids introduced and used successfully in other countries, and other species of Prunus spp.…”

Nutritional Efficiency and Morphophysiological Aspects With Growth in the ‘Okinawa Roxo’ Peach Rootstock

“…At 90 days after transplanting (DAT), the plants from treatment T1 (nutrient solution-Sn1) presented the highest mean values for height, reaching 123.0 cm (Table 3). In the production sector for peach tree plants, it is interesting that rootstocks show rapid growth in both height and stem diameter, since in Brazil grafting is performed almost exclusively by active budding or vegetative bud (Mayer et al, 2017). Stem diameter in particular determines whether the rootstocks are suitable for grafting as early as possible, and should be between 5.0 and 10 mm according to the production standards for peach rootstocks (Brazil, 2005).…”