Nursery Performances Of Citrus Scion Varietes On Commercial Rootstocks In Ibadan Southwestern Nigeria

Abstract

To Improve The Supply Of Citrus Budded materials, Three Favoured Scion Varieties: Citrus Loureiro, (King's Mandarin), C. Sinensis (L.) Osbeck (Sweet Orange Cv. Agege 1) And C Paradisi X C. Reticulata (Tangelo) Were Screened On Eight Rootstock Namely: C. Paradisi (Duncan Grapefruit), Poncirus Trifoliata (Trifoliate Orange), C Aurantium (Sour Orange), C.Reticulata (Cleopatra Mandarin), C. Limonia (Rangpur Lime), C. Limon (Lisbon Lemon); C. Jambhiri (Rough Lemon) And C. Sinensis (Sweet Orange) For A Period Of 9 Years (1989 – 1998) In Ibadan, Southwestern Nigeria. The Experiment Design Was Randomized Complete Block For The First And Second Rootstocks Screening Between 1989 – 1996. During The Third Trial Tangelo And Sweet Orange Scions Were Used To Screen The Rootstocks, With Scions As The Main – Plots And Rootstocks As The Sub-Plots Following A Split Plot Design In Randomized Complete Block Arrangement. King's Mandarin Scion Showed Better Performance For Percent Bud Survival On Cleopatra Mandarin And Sour Orange Rootstock With 88.99 And 85.37% Respectively. Tangelo Percent Bud Survival Was Generally Poor On All The Rootstock Tested. Trifoliate Orange And Lisbon Lemon Rootstocks Performed Poorly On Percent Bud Survival For All The Scions. For The Later Growth Of Scion Performance, Sweet Orange And Tangelo Scions Performed Best On Rough Lemon Rootstock, While Cleopatra Mandarin Growth Attributes Of King's Mandarin. Rough Lemon, Rangpur Lime, Sour Orange And Trifoliate Orange Rootstocks Recorded The Best Dry Matter Production For Sweet Orange Scion. From The Results Of This Study Rough Lemon, Rangpur Lime, Cleopatra Mandarin, Sour Orange, Sweet Orange And Duncan Grape Fruit Emerged In The Nursery As Promising For Scions Tested.