Assessment of Some Selected Cultivars of Almond on GF677 Rootstock in Drought Stress Conditions

Abstract

Drought stress is the most important factor limiting the successful production of agricultural crops worldwide. The response of some almond cultivars grafted on GF677 rootstock was studied to drought stress at a research greenhouse in the Horticultural Science Research Institute of Karaj, Iran, in the 2016-2017 growing season. The plant materials included 12 almond (Prunus dulcis Mill.) genotypes/cultivars, including ‘Sh10’, ‘Saba’, ‘A1-16’, ‘Shokofeh’, ‘Kh1’, ‘A230’, ‘Mamaie’, ‘A13-40’, ‘A9-7’, ‘A8-24’, ‘Fragiolu’, and ‘Sh17’, which were grafted onto Gf677 rootstock. The results showed that the treated almonds differed significantly. When all studied traits are considered, it can be concluded that genotypes ‘Kh1’ and ‘A13-40’ outperformed all other genotypes and cultivars in terms of the studied morphological and physiological traits and exhibited far more tolerance to drought stress. In normal conditions, cultivars Kh1 and Mamaei had maximum proline (2.35 µmole/g), but A8-24 still showed the lowest content of proline (1.20 µmole/g). The highest K content under drought stress was obtained in A1-16 (2.8 %) and Mamaei (2.71 %) cultivars.