IMPROVED AGROTECHNICAL AND SANITATION METHODS VERSUS RESISTANT CULTIVARS AS A MEANS OF AVOIDING FUSARIUM WILT
At the present time breeding is very intense in the carnation world and Fusarium oxysporum resistance has received very much attention.
However, the number of resistant varieties on the market is very small still and some of those that do exist were attained purely by chance by breeders whose programme does not even involve achieving resistance as a final goal.
Despite the need to increase the level of resistance in breeding populations (to Fusarium as well as other diseases), the forces of commercial competition have revealed that there is no replacement for quality.
We need spray carnations with more buds per stem and better bud opening qualities.
In standards there is an urgent need for cultivars with better production, less calyx splitting, and lacking side buds.
In Israel this fact is very much emphasised and many of the leading cultivars are only moderately resistant to very sensitive, the major consideration being quality and the ease with which the cultivar may be grown.
Data relating to Fusarium resistance bring out the fact that the genetic mechanism is polygenic or quantitative.
Once acquired by repeated crossing to sources of resistance, it is expected to be stable relative to monogenic resistance.
However, observations in the field reveal that the resistance mechanism may be vulnerable in the presence of nematodes, varying races of Fusarium, and high levels of innoculum.
It is suggested that breeders concentrate more on studying the genetics of the carnation and the potential use of genetical engineering techniques in improving quality and growing characteristics of cultivars.
Scovel, G. (1987). IMPROVED AGROTECHNICAL AND SANITATION METHODS VERSUS RESISTANT CULTIVARS AS A MEANS OF AVOIDING FUSARIUM WILT. Acta Hortic. 216, 55-62
DOI: 10.17660/ActaHortic.1987.216.7
https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1987.216.7
DOI: 10.17660/ActaHortic.1987.216.7
https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1987.216.7