Evaluation of Vegetative Growth Parameters of Almond Varieties (Prunus Amygdalus L.) at Holleta, Central Highlands of Ethiopia

doi:10.7176/alst/91-01

Abstract

The study's goal was to evaluate almond cultivars' vegetative growth performance and adaptability under Holetta conditions. The trial was carried out at the Holetta Agricultural Research Center with four almond varieties arranged in RCBD and three times replicated. Ferraduel had the highest tree height of 129.58 cm in the first growing season of 2011, followed by Desmayo (108.75 cm), Ferragnes (96.17 cm), and Marcona (95.56 cm). The Ferraduel variety has the highest recorded height except in 2014 and 2015. Annual growth differed significantly between years, with 2015 recording the most (42.7 cm) and 2013 following closely after (32.8 cm). The cross-sectional area of a tree trunk increased in general as the growth season progressed. In 2011, Marcona had the lowest TCSA (2.04 cm 2 ), whereas Ferragnes (86.58 cm 2 ) had a much lower TCSA in 2016. The exponential canopy stretch was somewhat limited from 2012 to 2013. The growing season 2016 has the most main branches, followed by the growing season 2013, with the values of 3.44 and 3.14, respectively. While the 2014 growing season had the fewest major branches, followed by the 2015 growing season with values of 2.19 and 2.58, respectively. Across all growing seasons, the Desmayo variety exhibited the highest branching height. With increasing tree height, TCSA and canopy stretch grow linearly. It also shows non-linear positive correlations of 0.43 and 0.35 with yearly growth rate and branching height, respectively. Keywords: almond, variety, year, vegetative, TCSA DOI: 10.7176/ALST/91-01 Publication date: January 31 st 2022

Highlights

Almond (Prunus amygdalus L) and its wild relatives thrive in the subsoil during hot, dry, and chilly summers comparable to those seen in Mediterranean climes (Gradziel, 2009; Kester et al, 1991)
The highest value of growth parameters discovered in plants from early planting may be connected to higher temperatures that prevail during the growth phase, hastening plant vegetative growth (Rahman et al, 2014)
All vegetative growth parameters are affected by year and variety interaction, with the exception of the number of main branches

Summary

Introduction

Almond (Prunus amygdalus L) and its wild relatives thrive in the subsoil during hot, dry, and chilly summers comparable to those seen in Mediterranean climes (Gradziel, 2009; Kester et al, 1991). The tree may be fully commercially grown to a height of 10 - 15 m and can be produced for 50 years or more, depending on the growing site and conditions (Kester et al, 1996). Successful almond production depends largely on the variety selected by the grower. The almond tree enters adolescence, or the phase after active growth, after being distributed and established in the orchard. The Ethiopian highlands are endowed with a mosaic of soil and climate conditions conducive to the production of temperate fruits and nuts. It is distinguished by different topography and agro-ecological zones, with over half of the total area being highland with elevations ranging from 2000 to 4500 m a.s.l, ample water supplies, and low winter temperatures that can support the growth of several temperate fruit crops (Dereje et al, 2010). Www.iiste.org vegetative growth performance and adaptability of almond cultivars

Materials and methods

Findings

Conclusions