Effects of Different Pollinators on Fruit Set and QualityAttributes of Texas Almond (Prunus dulcis L.) Cultivar

Abstract

There is a positive relationship between pollination and fruit yield of almonds.Since self-incompatibility is a major problem in almond cultivars, foreignpollinators are generally used in almonds to get high yield and quality. Thisstudy was conducted to investigate the effects of different pollinators (inbreedhybrid combinations) on fruit set and pomological characteristics of Texasalmond cultivar in 2018 - 2019 growing seasons. Fruit set ratios variedbetween 3.6% (Texas × A3) and 5.2% (Texas × A4) in the first year of thestudy and between 8.0% (Texas × A3) and 13.2% (Texas × A2) in the secondyear. As the average of two years, the lowest fruit length (32.03 ± 2.45 mm)was observed in Texas × A4 combination and the greatest fruit length (35.31± 3.05 mm) was observed in Texas × A1 combination, whereas fruit widthvalues varied between 19.37 ± 2.43 mm and 23.79 ± 1.33 mm. Althoughpollinators influenced fruit mass values, the greatest value (5.73 ± 0.74 g) wasobserved in Texas × A3 combination. It was concluded based on presentfindings that use of A2 cultivar as a pollinator in almond orchards establishedwith Texas cultivar may have positive effects on fruit set.