Alternative rootstocks for Valencia orange cultivation in the southwest region of the state of São Paulo
Lilian Massaro Simonetti, Mariângela Cristofani-Yaly, Vera Lucia Nishijima Paes de Barros, Evandro Henrique Schinor, André Luiz Fadel, Marília Caixeta Sousa, Sarita Leonel & Marco Antonio Tecchio
Abstract
Hybrids of mandarin Sunki vs Poncirus trifoliata cv. Rubidoux are a new generation of citrus rootstocks that have potencial to bring together characteristics such as, formation of plants with lower canopy size, high productive efficiency and production of fruits with high quality of juice. The objective of the present study was to evaluate citrus rootstocks in competition with Rangpur lime (Citrus limonia Osbeck) grafted with ‘Valencia’ sweet orange [Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck], aiming at new rootstocks selections for citriculture. We evaluated 48 combinations of ‘Valencia’ sweet orange with hybrids used as rootstock and Rangpur lime. The variables analyzed were: scion and rootstock compatibility, plant growth, yield, fruit mass, equatorial and polar fruit diameters, juice yield, total soluble solids content (SST - °Brix), Titratable acidity (AT), ratio (SST/AT ratio) and technological index (IT). A performance index was calculated for each canopy / rootstock combination. For this, indexes were previously determined for the variables fruit production, juice yield, ratio and technological index. The obtained results allowed to conclude that at least 18 hybrids grafted with ‘Valencia’ sweet orange showed better performance indexes in relation to Rangpur lime.