Selection for fruit removal force and related characteristics in olive breeding progenies

Abstract

In the present work we discuss the possibility of breeding olives for suitability to mechanical harvesting. Variability in fruit removal force (FRF), and its correlation with fruit weight (FW) and yield were evaluated in reciprocal crosses of ‘Arbequina’, ‘Frantoio’ and ‘Picual’ cultivars. A wide range of variation was observed for FRF among the genotypes evaluated. A high correlation between FRF and FW was observed but not between FRF and yield. Analysis of variance showed significant differences among years but not among female genitors. Differences among genotypes, irrespective of their genitors, were also found, with the variance due to genotype being higher for FRF/FW than for FRF as dependent variable. Correlations of genotype data between years were significant for FRF/FW but not for FRF. The relatively low correlation values indicated that only some negative selection could be done on the basis of FRF/FW at the first stage of the breeding process, owing to the importance of the environmental variability. A more precise evaluation is needed during the successive stages of breeding, where several replicates per genotype are available.

Fruit characteristics and fatty acid composition in advanced olive breeding selections along the ripening period

“…Among the fruit traits, only FrRF seems to have high error variance, as previously reported in evaluations of olive progenies (Leon, de la Rosa, Barranco, & Rallo, 2005) and advanced selections (de la . However, suitability for mechanical harvesting also depends on fruit size, which showed a high genetic variance.…”

Preliminary characterization and morpho-agronomic evaluation of the olive germplasm collection of the Mendoza province (Argentina)

“…Breeding programs carried out in Spain (Leon et al 2005;De la Rosa et al 2008) and in Israel (Lavee et al 2003) used similar selection criteria that our study. It is possible to refine the selection by incorporating other traits not measured in this study, i.e., fruit yield, canopy volume, precocity, fatty acid composition of oils, and fruit removal force, which are important attributes in the new plantations.…”

Genetic Divergence of Horticultural Traits among Olive (Olea europea L.) Genotypes Grown in Temperate Climate

“…It could be considered key structural features of leaves that govern the ability of a tree to withstand water stress. They could therefore be used as criteria to select olive cultivars that are more resistant to drought with high photosynthetic efficiency (Leon et al, 2005;Ennajeh et al, 2010 Fontanzza et al, (1999), Hosseini et al, (2008), Sheidaia et al, (2010) and Dastkar et al, (2013) in olive.…”