Comparison of fruit yield, vine growth, and damage from Dione juno in three cloned passion fruit accessions

Passion fruit is a crop on the rise globally, in Mediterranean, subtropical and tropical areas. Superior passion fruit cultivars adapted to local conditions are necessary as the basis for productive and sustainable orchards. Research was conducted in Puerto Rico to compare three local accessions of passion fruit. Plants for the experiment were rooted cuttings from three vines growing in western Puerto Rico. The accessions, listed as ‘PR-I’, ‘PR-II’ and ‘PR-III’, were arranged in a complete block design with three replications, containing four plants of each accession per replication. Leaf area, foliar damage by the Dione juno larvae, vine length, above-ground biomass and productivity were assessed. Vine length was comparable in ‘PR-I’ and ‘PR-II’ but shorter in ‘PR-III’. The extent of foliar damage by D. juno was more pronounced in ‘PR-III’ than in ‘PR-II’, while ‘PR-I’ had the least D. juno damage. Overall, ‘PR-I’ had the best performance, having high productivity and potentially needing less intense management of D. juno.