PISTACLON Operational Group: Development of a strategy for characterization, selection, and improvement of rootstocks for pistachio cultivation (PATRON)
- Type Operational group
- Status Filled
- Execution 2018 -2021
- Assigned Budget 157.500,00 €
- Scope Autonómico
- Autonomous community Madrid, Comunidad de
- Main source of financing PEPAC 2014-2020
Global demand for pistachios exceeds supply, a situation that is expected to persist for several decades. Just to meet potential European demand, the planting of between 150,000 and 300,000 new hectares is considered necessary. This will make pistachios an important crop in Spain because we are the only EU country with such a surface area that meets the necessary environmental conditions for cultivation.
The technological advancement of this cultivation is relatively recent, and therefore rootstocks are primarily produced from seed. There is an opportunity to characterize commercial rootstocks and identify the materials best suited to our production conditions. Improving cloning protocols for adult trees is an opportunity to develop new, more uniform clonal rootstocks better suited to our production conditions.
- Evaluate pistachio plantations on terebinth and UCB1 in juvenile and adult stages.
- Identify outstanding parents in wild terebinth populations and establish a seed orchard.
- Establish a seed orchard with outstanding clonal parents from adult pistachio plantations.
- Improve adult rootstock capture protocols by forcing basal shoots.
- Develop rejuvenation protocols.
- Improve in vitro propagation protocols for adult individuals.
Promote the development of a strategy for selecting and improving pistachio rootstocks. To this end, commercial UCB1 and terebinth material will be characterized for their parameters of interest, both in the nursery and in the field. A seed orchard will be established with selected terebinth material, and tools will be developed to enable efficient cloning of adult individuals.
- Growth and development characterization was carried out in four commercial pistachio plantations on two rootstocks (UCB1 and terebinth) using drone technology.
- Outstanding parents were identified in wild terebinth populations from central Spain. The influence of the mother on her offspring in relation to verticillium wilt tolerance was also evaluated.
- A seed orchard was established with four clonal parent plants from adult pistachio plantations at the IRIAF's "El Chaparrillo" plantation in Ciudad Real. Two of these four genotypes are known to be female, so they can be used as seed sources.
- The protocol for capturing adult rootstocks by forcing basal shoots was improved, achieving the capture of more than 80% of the rootstock genotypes in pistachios over 20 years old.
- The protocol for propagating juvenile lines from seeds was improved, establishing six P. terebinthus genotypes from two different progenies and four UCB1 genotypes. Regarding the propagation of adult lines, we continue working to improve efficiency.
- Propagation was improved by combining a phase in a semi-solid medium and another in bioreactors with a liquid medium, achieving a multiplication rate of 7 in 7 weeks.
- A CO2-injecting growth chamber has been designed and developed, reducing sugar intake and pollution and improving the plants' ability to acclimatize.
- Name of coordinator/entity: Jesús Alegra Álvaro (IMIDRA)
- Postal address: C/ Leganitos, 47, 3rd floor
- Coordinator/entity email: imidra@madrid.org | jesus.alegre@madrid.org
- Telephone: 918879400
- Jesús Alegra Álvaro (IMIDRA)
- Pistachos del Sol S.L. (zamorano@pistachosdelsol.com)
- Viveros Forestales Alborada S.L. (info@viverosalborada.es)
- Jesús Alegra Álvaro (IMIDRA)
Related projects
