Seedling vigour as a preselection criterion for short juvenile period in olive breeding
R. De la Rosa A C , A. I. Kiran B , D. Barranco B and L. León AA CIFA-Alameda del Obispo, IFAPA, CICE (Junta de Andalucía), Avda. Menéndez Pidal s/n, Apdo. 3092, E-14080 Córdoba, Spain.
B Departamento de Agronomía, Universidad de Córdoba, Avda. Menéndez Pidal s/n, Apdo. 3048, E-14080 Córdoba, Spain.
C Corresponding author. Email: raul.rosa@juntadeandalucia.es
Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 57(4) 477-481 https://doi.org/10.1071/AR05219
Submitted: 14 June 2005 Accepted: 16 November 2005 Published: 27 April 2006
Abstract
The juvenile period represents a serious impediment in olive breeding programs. Seedlings with long juvenile period are of very low interest for the breeder because their evaluation considerably delays the first stages of the breeding process. For this reason, the influence of seedling vigour (measured as plant height or stem diameter) on the characteristics at the adult stage was studied to establish useful negative preselection criteria on the basis of that relationship. Olive progenies from crosses and open pollinations of 12 different parents carried out in 1998 and 1999 were evaluated in the greenhouse and, afterwards, during the first 3 years of bearing in the open field. The results obtained indicate that early evaluation and selection for juvenile period can be performed at the seedling stage in olive progenies on the basis of vigour measurements. Selection for short juvenile period was valid irrespective of parentage and, therefore, could be efficient in a general context. No relationship between juvenile period and yield or fruit traits was found so that this preselection criterion would have no adverse effects on these characters.
Additional keywords: early selection, negative selection, Olea europaea L., olive progenies.
Acknowledgments
This research was funded by Project AGL2003–08768-C02–01 of the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science. A. I. Kiran is grateful to the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies for the MSc grant.
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