EARLINESS OF BEARING IN OLIVE PROGENIES

J. Moral, D. Barranco, C. Muñoz-Díez , L. Rallo , L. León , R. De la Rosa
An overall analysis of 739 seedlings from 12 crosses among 8 olive cultivars planted in 1998 for earliness of bearing has been carried out in the Joint Olive Breeding Program University of Córdoba - IFAPA (Andalusian Institute for Agricultural Research). An earliness-of-bearing scale [from 1 (no flowering after 6 years from germination) to 4 (flowering in the 4th year from germination)] was used. Additionally, plant vigour [plant diameter (mm) and the height (cm)] was recorded. Cross effect was not studied due to illicit pollinitations caused by airborne pollen that were detected by SSR paternity tests of the seedlings. A significant effect of the female genitor on the earliness bearing was observed, with ‘Arbequina’ transmitting shorter juvenile period (JP) than ‘Lechín de Sevilla’ to its descendants. Plant vigour measured at planting was significantly correlated (P<0.001) with the earliness of bearing. Thus no plants with a total height lower than 80 cm flourished before five years from germination. Besides, flowering was significantly related, according to logistic regression (P<0.001), to plant height for all data (n=739). However, for each female genitor the inflection point (height at which 50% of the seedling have flowered) of the curve presented a different value. When ‘Arbequina’ was used as the female genitor the inflection point was 302 cm; on the contrary, when ‘Lechín de Sevilla’ was the female genitor the inflection point was 328 cm. These results reinforce the strategy of forcing of olive seedling growth to shorten their JP.
Moral, J., Barranco, D., Muñoz-Díez , C., Rallo , L., León , L. and De la Rosa, R. (2011). EARLINESS OF BEARING IN OLIVE PROGENIES. Acta Hortic. 924, 341-347
DOI: 10.17660/ActaHortic.2011.924.43
https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2011.924.43
juvenile phase, earliness of bearing, olive, Olea europaea
English

Acta Horticulturae