Tolerance to the Late Spring Frost in some Quince (Cydonia oblonga Mill.) Genotypes in Karaj Climate

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

respectively, Temperate Fruits Research Center, Horticultural Sciences Research Institute, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Karaj, Iran.

Abstract

Among various species of pome fruits, quince trees are considered as a late blooming species, however late spring frosts cause damage on flower buds in some years. Damage level caused by a -8ºC spring frost occurred in the mid-April of 2014 in Karaj were evaluated on 36 five years old quince genotypes grown in the collection garaden of Kamalshahr before bud burst stage. The evaluated genotypes had been collected from Khorasan Razavi, Isfahan, Guilan, Ardabil and Tehran provinces. Based on the results, the highest levels of spring frost damage (10 up to 80%) were recorded on the genotypes originated from low altitudes of Isfahan, Khorasan and Guilan provinces, while the frost damage was not observed on the genotypes originated from high altitudes of these provinces. Correlation analysis of evaluated characteristics of the genotypes revealed the highest negative correlation between length of bud flower and level of frost damage, while severity of frost damage had not significant correlation with tree yield and final fruit size of the genotype. Regarding the results of this investigation, it seems that for introduction of new quince cultivars for regions with late chilling damages on the flower buds, the genotypes originated from Ardebil are more suitable. The quince genotypes of Ardebil demonstrated high fruit quality and late blooming period that could be considered as useful traits in selection and breeding of quinces.

Keywords


Abdollahi, H. 2010. Pear, Botany, Cultivars and Rootstocks. Plant Production Deputy, Agricultural-Jihad Ministry of Iran, Agricultural Education Publisher, Karaj, Iran. 200pp. (in Persian).
 
Abdollahi, H., Alipour, M., Khoramdel Azad, M., Mehrabipour, S., Ghasemi, A., Adli, M., Atashkar, D., and Akbari, M. 2011. Establishment of quince (Cydonia oblonga Mill.) germplasm collection from various regions of Iran. Acta Horticulturae 976: 199-203.
 
Abdollahi, H., Ghasemi, A., and Mehrabipour, S. 2010. Interaction effects of rootstock and genotype on tolerance to iron deficiency chlorosis in some quince (Cydonia oblonga Mill.) genotypes from central regions of Iran. Seed and Plant Improvement Journal 26-1: 1-14 (in Persian).
 
Ahmadi, S., Alipour, M., Abdollahi, H., and Atashkar, D. 2013. Comparison of efficiency of indices for fire blight susceptibility evaluation in quince (Cydonia oblonga Mill.) in orchard condition. Seed and Plant Improvement Journal 29-1: 331-347 (in Persian).
 
Alipour, M. 2013. Morphological, physiological and molecular assessment of some Iranian quince (Cydonia oblonga Mill.) genotypes. M.Sc. Thesis, Tehran Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch, Tehran, Iran. 186 pp. (in Persian).
 
Alipour, M., Abdollahi, H., Abdousi, V., Ghasemi, A. A., Adli, M., and Mohamadi, M. 2014. Evaluation of vegetative and reproductive characteristics and distinctness of some quince (Cydonia oblonga Mill.) genotypes from different regions of Iran. Seed and Plant Improvement Journal 30-1: 507-529 (in Persian).
 
Anonymous 2010. Guide to Determining Climate Regions by County. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory & Oak Ridge National Laboratory, USA. 34pp.
 
Anonymous 2014a. Crops Production Annual Reports of Food and Agriculture Organization. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nation, Rome, Italy.
 
Anonymous 2014b. Annual Data of Karaj Climatology Station. Iranian Meteorological Organization, Tehran, Iran. (in Persian).
 
Arzani, K. 2002. The position of pear breeding and culture in Iran: Introduction of some Asian pear (Pyrus serotina Rehd.) cultivars. Acta Horticulturae 587: 167-173.
 
Arzani, K. 2004. The Effect of European pear (Pyrus communis L.) and quince (Cydonia oblonga Mill.) seedling rootstocks on growth and performance of some Asian pear (Pyrus serotina Rhed) Cultivars. Acta Horticulturae 658: 93-97.
 
Esumi, T., Tao, R., and Yonemori, K. 2007. Comparison of early inflorescence development between Japanese pear (Pyrus pyrifolia Nakai) and quince (Cydonia oblonga Mill.). Journal of the Japanese Society for Horticultural Science 76: 210-216.
 
Kennedy, R., and Cramer, C. 2010. Minor fruits, Cydonia oblonga (Quince). Department of Horticulture, Cornell University, USA. 10pp.
 
Khoramdel Azad, M., Nassiri, J., and Abdollahi, H. 2013. Genetic diversity of selected Iranian quinces using SSRs from apples and pears. Biochemical Genetics 51: 426-442.
 
Meier, U., Bleiholder, H., Buhr, L., Feller, C., Hack, H., Heb, M., Lancashire, P.D., Schnock, U., Staub, R., van den Boom, T., Weber, E., and Zwerger, P. 2009. The BBCH system to coding the phonological growth stages of plants-history and publications. Journal fur Kulturpflanzen 61: 41-52.
 
Milosevic, Z. 2010. Quince Production. Agrolibrary of Russia, Moscow, Russia. 12pp. Ruiz, D., and Egea, J. 2008. Analysis of the variability and correlations of floral biology factors affecting fruit set in apricot in a Mediterranean climate. Scientia Horticulturae 115:154-163.
 
Sabeti, H. 1994. Trees and Shrubs of Iran. Yazd University Publication Yazd, Iran. 810 pp. (in Persian).
 
Silva B.M., Andrade, P. B., Martins, R. C., Valentao P., Ferreres, F., Seabra, R. M., and Ferreira, M. A. 2005. Quince (Cydonia oblonga Mill.) fruit characterization using principal component analysis. Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry 53: 111-122.
 
Westwood, M.N. 1993. Temperate Zone Pomology. Timber Press, Inc. Portland, Oregon, USA. 536 pp.