Evaluation of hand pollination with three different pollen sources on fruit set and certain fruit parameters of two commercial pistachios (Pistacia vera L.)

Ranjbar Kabootarkhani, Maryam; Alizadeh, Mahdi; Tajabadipor, Ali; Seifi, Esmaeil; Zeinalinezhad, Khalil; Esmaeilizadeh, Majid

Evaluation of hand pollination with three different pollen sources on fruit set and certain fruit parameters of two commercial pistachios (Pistacia vera L.)

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Maryam Ranjbar Kabootarkhani ¹

Mahdi Alizadeh ²

Ali Tajabadipor ³

Esmaeil Seifi ⁴

Khalil Zeinalinezhad ⁵

Majid Esmaeilizadeh ⁶

¹ Hort Dep. Gorgan University of Agri. Sci & Natural Resources

² Horticulture department, Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences &amp;amp; Natural Resources

³ Iran Pistachio Research Institute

⁴ Hort Dep., Gorgan University of Agricultural Sci & Natural Resources

⁵ Dep of Plant Breeding & Biotech., Gorgan University of Agri. Sci & Natural Resorces

⁶ Hort. Dep.,, Vali-e-Asr University of Rafsanjan

Abstract

Pollination is an important factor in the management of pistachio orchards. The flowering periods of male and female trees do not overlap, and this situation causes a decrease in fertility and an increase in blankness. The selection of male trees in terms of simultaneous flowering with the female variety, high pollen production, high germination power and pollen fertility are necessary conditions for the production of quality nuts. Therefore, searching for pollinizers is always one of the goals of pistachio breeders. In the present study, three different sources of pollen (T5, T17, T18) were selected and their fertility and fruit production in two commercial cultivars (Akbari, Kalehgoochi) were evaluated. The results showed that in addition to the fact that the fertility of female cultivars are inherently different, the choice of pollen type can be quite effective on various traits such as fruit formation and superior traits of nut and kernels. By performing artificial pollination, the number cluster and fruit formation, nut dimensions, fresh and dry weights of kernel and nut, the percentage of spliting (with an increase of 14.64%) compared to the control (free pollination) increased and nuts with closed mouth, nuts with half kernels were decreased compared to the control.The observed differences after pollination with different pollens are discussed in the present article and finally the T17 pollinator tree was selected as the superior genotype. This genotype can be grown as a superior pollinator in pistachio orchards of Akbari and Koleghoochi cultivars or may be used for supplementary pollination.

Keywords

Pollination

Pollinizer

Diocious

Fruitset

Pistachio