ALMOND GERMPLASM AND PRODUCTION IN TURKEY AND THE FUTURE OF ALMONDS IN THE GAP AREA

Almond has been grown from seed for centuries in our country. Since heterozygosity is seen in the generative propagation of almond, wide variability is observed and a diverse population is obtained. Thus, Turkey is one of the most important genetic centers of diversity for almond. Almond is mostly confined to the Aegean, Marmara and Mediterranean regions with smaller amounts of production in other parts of the country. Recently, South East Anatolia has emerged as a promising region for almond growing. Since 1988, studies carried out on almonds in the Southeastern Anatolia region under the GAP project have indicated that almonds will be as important as pistachios there. No cold damage was observed, despite cold winters and springs in this area. Some selections for frost resistance have been made. For example, 48-5 and 48-2 almond clones, which were very early flowering cultivars, were not affected by spring frost and the highest yields were obtained from them. Also, the cultivars 'Texas', 'Nonpareil', 'Drake', 'Ferraduel', 'Ferragnes', 'Genco', 'Picantili', and 'Yaltinski' and local cultivars '101-23', '101-9' and '101-13' had very good yield and fruit quality. Almonds in the Southeast Anatolia region seem to be an excellent alternative crop to pistachio.