Breeding Better Walnut Rootstocks That Could Withstand Crown Gall

Breeding Better Walnut Rootstocks That Could Withstand Crown Gall

Patrick Cavanaugh
Patrick Cavanaugh

Elizabeth Fichtner is a farm advisor with UC Cooperative Extension, Tulare County. She and other researchers across the state are working on different genotypes for Walnut rootstocks.

“This project is specific to walnuts and there are multiple rootstock research plot throughout the state,” Fichtner said. “And so I'm hosting one in Tulare County and we're looking at how these different rootstocks perform in comparison to seedling Paradox, which is the grower standard. But there are three clonal Paradox rootstocks that are also commercially sold. So we're comparing them to the seedlings, but also some new genotypes that have been generated by the Walnut Improvement Program at UC Davis.”

And Fichtner said it's all about finding a better rootstock that can withstand crown gall.

“The major problem is that Paradox rootstock is susceptible to crown golf. So we're looking into bringing some different parentage in these rootstocks to see if we can include some resistance to crown gall, which is one of the major pathogens of Walnut,” she said.

In more news, the almond board of California is proud to announce the almond leadership program class of 2020 these 17 promising leaders represent diverse backgrounds across multiple industries from almond growers to processors, sales representatives, to regulatory consultants, researchers to pest control advisors, and more.

Previous ReportNot Increasing Water Flows in the Delta to Protect Species
Next ReportOne Billion Pound Pistachio Crop Is Expected This Year