Performance of own-rooted cultivar BRS Libra and grafted on clonal rootstocks in Minas Gerais

Abstract

One of the main problems of peach culture in Brazil is no standardization of the plants due to the sexual propagation of the rootstocks, which causes variation in the agronomic performance of the peach scion cultivar. This paper aimed to evaluate the vegetative growth, the productive performance and fruit quality of the own-rooted cultivar BRS Libra (without rootstock) and grafted on 23 clonal rootstocks under edaphoclimatic conditions in southern Minas Gerais. The study was developed in 2014 to 2017 at the Agricultural Research Company of Minas Gerais (EPAMIG). The experimental design was a randomized block design and the plants were conducted in a “Y” system with spacing of 5.0 x 1.5 m, without irrigation. The annual stem diameter growth rate in relation to grafting point, survival rates, yield efficiency, production and productivity, as well as the fruit weight, longitudinal and transversal diameter and soluble solids content of the fruits were evaluated. The rootstocks with the best agronomic performance and the possibility of use in southern Minas Gerais were “Okinawa”, “Flordaguard”, “Tsukuba-2”, “De Guia” and “Rigitano”, as well as own-rooted trees.