Effects of seedling and clonal West Indian rootstocks irrigated with recycled water on ‘Hass’ avocado yield, fruit weight and alternate bearing

Abstract

In modern avocado orchards, ‘Hass’ scions are grafted on selected rootstocks. Avocado rootstocks can be propagated via seeds (seedling rootstocks) or by vegetative propagation (clonal rootstocks). As choice of the proper rootstock influences productivity during the orchard's entire life span, it is critical to evaluate the effects of rootstocks on production parameters of the ‘Hass’ scion. We examined the effects of different rootstocks on fruit yield, fruit weight and alternate bearing of ‘Hass’ scions grafted on nine different West Indian rootstocks. The experiments were conducted from 2009–2019 in two commercial plots located in northwestern Israel irrigated with recycled water. Multiyear mean yield and alternate bearing index (ABI) in Afek orchard ranged from 11,032–15,214 kg ha−1 and 0.26–0.5, respectively. Multiyear mean yield and ABI in Gesher Haziv orchard ranged from 12,746–15,047 kg ha−1 and 0.34–0.57, respectively. Results revealed no significant differences in the multiyear production parameters of the examined rootstocks. However, a non-significant advantage was shown for the vegetative rootstocks, most of which had lower ABI values than the seedling rootstocks. Therefore, because vegetative rootstocks are more expensive to produce, it is practically recommended to use the seedling rootstocks. In the future, it is suggested to examine additional vegetative rootstocks.