Breeding of Self-Compatible and Late Flowering Cultivars in Almond

Abstract

Almond is one of the important fruit species in Turkey, and it is being imported. Domestic almond cultivars do not take any attention of the market, as a result nurserymen prefer new foreign cultivars. In 2009, through our project, supported by TUBITAK, “Self-compatible and late flowering almond breeding by crossing” an Almond Breeding Program has been started. In the first part of the breeding program, in 2009 self-compatible foreign almond cultivars Lauranne, Guara and Moncayo were crossed with the local cultivars Gulcan 1, Gulcan 2, Akbadem and Nurlu and F1 plants containing self-compatible allele (Sf ) were determined by PCR method, and these plants were planted in Pistachio Research Institute in 2011. In addition, the F1 individuals obtained from the ‘Gulcan 2’ x ‘Penta’ and ‘Gulcan 2’ x ‘A2-198’ crossing made in 2011 were also planted in F1 plot in 2012. Thus, for the first time in our country, an almond population has been created, which is candidate for self-compatible and late flowering. Total 1.870 F1 individuals in this population have been used as material of the project. Seventeen F1 individuals were selected, and transported to the Selection II plots both in Şanlıurfa and Gaziantep.