REGIONAL ALMOND VARIETY TRIALS FOR CULTIVAR EVALUATION IN CALIFORNIA

Abstract

Regional Almond Variety Trials (RAVTs) were planted in 1993 in Butte County at the California State University at Chico farm (Butte), in San Joaquin County at the San Joaquin Delta College farm near Manteca (San Joaquin) and in Kern County at a Paramount Farming Company orchard (Kern). Standard cultivars are planted 1:1 with new cultivars; ‘Nonpareil’ for the early-mid blooming cultivars and ‘Mission’ for the late blooming cultivars. Other standard cultivars planted include ‘Butte’, ‘Carmel’, ‘Fritz’ (not at Butte RAVT), ‘Monterey’, ‘Padre’, ‘Price’, ‘Sonora’. The new cultivars being tested in these trials are ’Aldrich’, ‘Chips’, ‘Donna’, ‘Dottie Won’ (San Joaquin RAVT only), ‘Kahl’, ‘Kapareil’, ‘Jenette’, ‘Jiml’, ‘Johlyn’, ‘Livingston’, ‘Morley’, ‘Plateau’, ‘Rosetta’, ‘Ruby’, ‘Sano’, ‘Savana’, ‘Wood Colony’ and ‘Yokut’. In addition six numbered selections from a University of California at Davis almond breeding program were included in these trials. These are 1-87, 1-102W, 2-19E, 2-43W, 13-1 and 25-75. Data collected from these trials include bloom time, hullsplit/harvest time, yield, and nut quality. Trees in these trials are also being observed and evaluated for growth characteristics, pest and disease susceptibility and noninfectious bud failure symptoms. The cultivars with the highest cumulative yields at the Butte RAVT are selection 13-1, ‘Plateau’, ‘Monterey’, ‘Carmel’ and ‘Nonpareil’. At the San Joaquin RAVT, the cultivars with the highest cumulative yields are ‘Carmel’, ‘Butte’, ‘Ruby’, ‘Plateau’ and ‘Fritz’. At the Kern RAVT, ‘Ruby’, ‘Plateau’, ‘Jenette’, ‘Padre’ and ‘Sano’ have the highest cumulative yields. Averaged across all three locations, the highest cumulative yields are from ‘Plateau’, ‘Ruby’, ‘Carmel’, ‘Monterey’, ‘Butte’, and ‘Jenette’. Of the high yielding cultivars, both ‘Plateau’ and ‘Sano’ have had a tendency towards a high percentage of double kernels in at least one of the trials each year. The variability in performance of the cultivars at the different RAVTs suggests that there may be some cultivars with qualities conducive to planting in particular regions.