Genotype and Grafting Techniques Effects on Survival and Growth of Camu Camu Plants (original) (raw)

2015, Journal of Agricultural Science

The camu camu is a native fruit of the Amazon that stands out for its high content of vitamin C (3133 mg/100 g pulp). Camu camu is in process of domestication, so the industry is looking to expand the genetic base starting from genotypes with a high genetic quality by vegetative propagation. The objective of this work was to determine the influence of genotype and grafting technique on the success and graft quality in camu camu plants. The trial was conducted using an experimental design of complete randomized block (CRB) with factorial scheme 9Ax3B, three blocks and 10 grafted plants per experimental unit. Factor A represented 9 clones of camu camu and factor B, three grafting techniques: Chip budding, b) Splice graft and c) Cleft graft. The experiment was conducted for 110 days to determine the sprouting time (beginning of the expansion of the first pair of leaves), the survival rate, sprout lenght and number of leaves. Significant interactions between the factors for the variables survival rate, sprout lenght and number of leaves were observed. The results show that the survival rate was influenced by the intrinsic effects of clones genotypic variability, presenting a high degree of dispersion, which was between 96.66% and 26.67%, with respect to grafting technique. The chip budding had higher response of survival rate, sprout lenght and number of leaves. Based on these results it is possible to conclude that the effect of genotypic variability and grafting method significantly influenced the camu camu grafting. Therefore, the higher values of survival rate and more vigorous vegetative growth obtained with chip budding allows to recommend the use of this technique for vegetative propagation of camu camu genotypes evaluated in this study.