THE DIVERSITY OF CASTANEA RESOURCES AND CULTIVARS IMPROVEMENT IN CHINA

The genus Castanea BI. comprises 4 species and more than 300 cultivars of Castanea mollissima and 1,000 superior genotypes distributed in China. Such wide range of diversity and rich genetic resource provide tremendous potential for improving the cultivars and enhancing the development of the China chestnut industry. A program organized by the China Government had been performed since the 1970s, the main aims of this program were: 1) making an inventory of the national germplasm survey and of natural and cultivar resources of Castanea mollissima; 2) selecting some superior genotypes for cultivar development. On arriving at the end of this work, about 1,000 superior genotypes were selected from the natural populations; most of them were non-grafted. This work gave a strong support for developing the current chestnut cultivars in China. In the present paper, we will give more information about the diversity of the Chinese chestnuts as well as the new cultivars and their important traits.