Elsevier

Scientia Horticulturae

Volume 129, Issue 2, 10 June 2011, Pages 259-265
Scientia Horticulturae

Horticultural performance of ‘Folha Murcha’ sweet orange onto twelve rootstocks

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scienta.2011.03.039Get rights and content

Abstract

Despite its outstanding position, the Brazilian citriculture is established on a very limited pool of varieties that limits its expansion and restricts the fruit availability throughout the year. This situation determines the urgent necessity of developing alternative scion and rootstock cultivars, with good performance under local conditions. ‘Folha Murcha’ sweet orange (Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck) is a late-harvest cultivar, suitable both for the juice processing industry and the fresh fruit market, being described as tolerant to citrus canker (Xanthomonas citri subsp. citri Schaad et al.), and less affected by citrus variegated chlorosis (Xylella fastidiosa Wells et al.). A study was conducted in Bebedouro, São Paulo State, Brazil, to evaluate the horticultural performance of ‘Folha Murcha’ sweet orange budded onto 12 rootstocks: the citrandarin ‘Changsha’ mandarin (Citrus reticulata Blanco) × Poncirus trifoliata ‘English Small’; the hybrid ‘Rangpur’ lime (Citrus limonia Osbeck) × ‘Swingle’ citrumelo (P. trifoliata (L.) Raf. × Citrus paradisi Macfad.); the trifoliates (P. trifoliata (L.) Raf.) ‘Rubidoux’, ‘FCAV’, and ‘Flying Dragon’ (P. trifoliata var. monstrosa); the ‘Sun Chu Sha Kat’ mandarin (C. reticulata Blanco); the ‘Sunki’ mandarin (Citrus sunki (Hayata) Hort. ex. Tanaka); the ‘Rangpur’ limes (C. limonia Osbeck) ‘Cravo Limeira’ and ‘Cravo FCAV’; ‘Carrizo’ citrange (C. sinensis × P. trifoliata), ‘Swingle’ citrumelo (P. trifoliata × C. paradisi), and ‘Orlando’ tangelo (C. paradisi × Citrus tangerina cv. ‘Dancy’). The experimental grove was planted in 2001, using a 7 m × 4 m spacing, in a randomized block design, with five replications and two plants per plot. No supplementary irrigation was applied. Fruit yield, canopy volume, tree tolerance to drought and to citrus variegated chlorosis, and fruit quality were assessed for each rootstock. Trees grafted onto the ‘Flying Dragon’ trifoliate were smaller in size, but had largest yield efficiency when compared to those grafted onto other rootstocks. Lower alternate bearing index was observed on trees budded onto ‘Cravo FCAV’ ‘Rangpur’ lime. Both ‘Rangpur’ lime rootstocks and the ‘Sunki’ mandarin induced higher tree tolerance to drought. The ‘Flying Dragon’ trifoliate induced better fruit quality and higher tolerance to citrus variegated chlorosis (CVC) to ‘Folha Murcha’ trees. A cluster multivariate analysis identified three groups of rootstocks with similar effects on ‘Folha Murcha’ tree performance. Among the 12 evaluated rootstocks, the ‘Flying Dragon’ trifoliate has a unique effect on plant growth, tolerance to drought and CVC, fruit yield and fruit quality of ‘Folha Murcha’ trees, and may be better suited for high-density plantings.

Highlights

► Performance of ‘Folha ‘Murcha’ sweet orange was affected by the rootstock. ► ‘Orlando’ tangelo performed poorly as rootstock for ‘Folha Murcha’ sweet orange. ► ‘Rangpur’ lime rootstocks induced tree tolerance to drought. ► CVC incidence was lower in trees grafted on ‘Flying Dragon’ rootstock. ► ‘Flying Dragon’ is a suitable rootstock for ‘Folha Murcha’ high density plantings.

Introduction

Diversification of current rootstock and scion citrus cultivars is very important for Brazilian citriculture in order to reduce the high risks associated with the outbreaks of new and more severe diseases and pests spreading over a narrow genetic pool (Bové and Ayres, 2007). Brazil is the world's largest sweet orange juice producer, exporting more than 1,300,000 t per year. The State of São Paulo is the largest growing region, with 599,730 ha, mainly cultivated with ‘Pêra’, ‘Natal’, ‘Valencia’ and ‘Hamlin’ scions budded onto ‘Rangpur’ lime (FNP, 2010). Among the sweet orange cultivars that have been recently selected to extend fruit supply to the local juice industry, the ‘Folha Murcha’ scion was obtained from a natural local mutation, and it is suitable for both the industry and the fresh fruit markets (Hodgson, 1967, Stuchi et al., 2000a). Fruits of ‘Folha Murcha’ sweet orange have high juice and sugar contents, with excellent juice color and longer fruit retention on the tree. ‘Folha Murcha’ trees are also very resistant to drought and tolerant to the citrus canker (Xanthomonas citri subsp. citri Schaad et al.) (Leite and Mohan, 1988), and less affected by CVC (Xylella fastidiosa Wells et al.) (Molina et al., 2010).

This work reports the response of ‘Folha Murcha’ trees budded onto 12 rootstocks in the Northern region of São Paulo State, with emphasis on rootstock influence over canopy volume, fruit yield and fruit quality, and plant tolerance to drought and to CVC. A multivariate clustering analysis technique was utilized to identify aggregates of rootstocks that induced similar characteristics to ‘Folha Murcha’ trees, considering 14 evaluated variables that were significantly affected by the rootstocks.

Section snippets

Field trial and plant material

The experimental grove was planted in February 2001 at the Estação Experimental de Citricultura de Bebedouro, located in the Northern region of São Paulo State (20°53′16″S latitude, 48° 28′11″W longitude, 680 m altitude), in a 7 m × 4 m spacing (357 plants ha−1), on a total area of 4032 m2. The climate is Köeppen's Cwa, with a mean temperature of 23.5 °C and an annual rainfall of 1522 mm. The soil is classified as Haplustox (38% clay) (EMBRAPA, 1999). ‘Folha Murcha’ sweet orange was budded onto each

Plant yield and canopy volume

Cumulative yield (2004–2008) of non-irrigated ‘Folha Murcha’ sweet orange was significantly larger when budded onto ‘Rubidoux’ trifoliate, followed by ‘Cravo FCAV’ ‘Rangpur’ lime and ‘Swingle’ citrumelo. Trees grafted onto ‘Carrizo’ citrange, ‘FCAV’ trifoliate, the hybrids ‘Cravo’ × ‘Swingle’ and ‘Changsha’ × ‘English Small’, and the ‘Sun Chu Sha Kat’ and ‘Sunki’ mandarins had similar yields to those of trees grafted onto ‘Cravo Limeira’ ‘Rangpur’ lime. Nonetheless, ‘Folha Murcha’ trees had the

Discussion

Under the experimental conditions, larger cumulative yield of non-irrigated ‘Folha Murcha’ trees budded onto ‘Rubidoux’ trifoliate, ‘Cravo FCAV’ ‘Rangpur’ lime and ‘Swingle’ citrumelo partially confirm previous reports on the effects of ‘Cravo’ ‘Rangpur’ lime and ‘Swingle’ citrumelo, as rootstocks conferring medium to high yields to ‘Folha Murcha’ and other late-maturing sweet orange cultivars (Stenzel et al., 2005, Castle et al., 2010). The lower cumulative yield of ‘Folha Murcha’ trees onto

Conclusions

The ‘Flying Dragon’ trifoliate rootstock induced smaller tree size, higher yield efficiency, lower CVC incidence, early-bearing and high fruit quality to non-irrigated ‘Folha Murcha’ sweet orange trees, and may be recommended as an alternative rootstock, being better suited for high-density plantings.

The ‘Cravo Limeira’ and ‘Cravo FCAV’ ‘Rangpur’ limes induced early-ripening and larger fruit size, of lower internal quality. The ‘Orlando’ tangelo performed poorly as rootstock for the ‘Folha

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) for the Ph.D. student fellowship to the first author (Proc. 05/04731-3) and grant support to this research (Proc. 04/16077-3). The second and third authors acknowledge Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) for research fellowships. The authors thank Centro APTA Citros Sylvio Moreira for kindly providing part of the germplasm material for the experiment. The authors also

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