SELECTION OF SEEDLING ROOTSTOCK FOR APRICOT

Abstract

The seedlings of apricot are more inexpensive and have benefits like physiological compatibility between scion and rootstock, high tolerance to nematodes and hardiness to sulphate salts and chlorides [1,2]. Due to these advantages, local rootstocks are widely used in Asian and European countries [2,3,4]. However, they are susceptible to both oak root fungus and Verticillium wilt [5]. Therefore, apricot seedlings are not commonly used in commercial plantings. For overcome these problems, plum clonal rootstocks are often used as a rootstock for apricot. But plum clonal rootstocks are not so useful due to incompatibility to cultivars and other local cultivars [6].