Performance of clonal rootstocks for ‘BRS-Kampai’ peach and own-rooted trees in a mild-winter region

Abstract

The worldwide main peach-producing are adopting peach training systems with canopy size-controlling clonal rootstocks. However, most peach seedlings commercialised in Brazil are still on seed-propagated rootstocks, which are vigorous and heterogeneous. This study aimed to select rootstocks which induce desirable characteristics of fruit quality, yield efficiency, size control, adaptability and stability in the ‘BRS-Kampai’ grown in subtropical regions with mild winters. We used adaptability and stability methodology and multivariate selection index to determine yield components and fruit quality. The experiment was conducted in five cycles. The treatments consisted of ‘BRS-Kampai’ grafted onto 17 clonal rootstocks of Prunus spp. and own-rooted trees. The evaluated variables were yield per tree, yield per area, fruit mass, fruit diameter, fruit firmness, soluble solids content, titratable acidity, canopy volume and yield efficiency. The rootstocks ‘Ishtara®’, ‘Genovesa’, ‘Santa Rosa’ and ‘Cadaman’ always induced low yield and low fruit quality when used as clonal rootstocks for the ‘BRS-Kampai’ and showed no potential for use as rootstocks in subtropical humid regions with mild winters. The ‘BRS-Kampai’ own-rooted peach trees or those grafted onto ‘Flordaguard’, ‘Okinawa’ are alternatives for peach cultivation under the edaphoclimatic conditions of Pato Branco-PR, although the training and pruning systems must be adjusted due to high vigour. The clonal rootstocks ‘Tsukuba-3’ and ‘Tsukuba-2’ induced the highest production performance in the canopy cultivar BRS-Kampai, combining fruit quality, yield with higher stability, and yield efficiency making them the most suitable ones among the studied rootstocks.