Agronomic performance of the ‘Pera’ orange grafted onto nine rootstocks under the conditions of Rio Branco, Acre, Brazil

Abstract

Brazil is the world’s largest sweet orange producer, but production in the state of Acre is small and does not meet the local demand, despite having climatic conditions that are adequate for its cultivation. The objective of this study was to evaluate the behavior of the ‘Pera’ orange using different rootstocks under the edaphoclimatic conditions of Rio Branco, Acre, Brazil. We grafted the scion of the ‘Pera’ orange onto nine citrus rootstocks: ‘Cleopatra’ mandarin, TSKFL x CTTR – 013, LVK x LCR – 038, TSKC x CTQT 1439 – 004, LVK x LVA – 009, ‘Indio’citrandarin, ‘Santa Cruz Rangpur’ lime, TSKFL x CTC - 25 – 002, and TSKC x CTSW – 038. The experiment was organized in a random block design with three replicates and two plants per parcel. The following characteristics were evaluated: compatibility between scion and rootstocks, tolerance to drought, production and fruit quality. There was an effect of the rootstocks on the behavior of the ‘Pera’ variety. The ‘Santa Cruz Rangpur’ lime, ‘Indio’ citrandarin, and the hybrid LVK x LCR - 038 rootstocks presented the best performance of the ‘Pera’ orange. Therefore, they constitute an alternative to the ‘Rangpur’ lime and may be incorporated into the current ‘Pera’ orange production system of the region.