Study of the Morphological characterization of the most important Pistacia vera L. cultivars and genotypes in Hama governorate.

Abstract

The research was carried out in the genetic pool of pistachios at the Agricultural Research Center in Hamah, the General Commission of Agricultural Scientific Research (GCSAR), during the growing seasons (2020 - 2022) to evaluate the morphological and physical characteristics of twenty-four local varieties and

genotypes - of pistachios at the age of 35 years.

The evaluation showed differences between varieties and their genotypes in many characteristics (flowering dates, Nut characters, production quantity, and degree alternate bearing). The results showed a variation in the timing of the development of fruit buds, and the period of peak flowering extended from (March 28 - to April 15), and the Asho C variety was distinguished by its coquette flowers. The highest value for the average fruit dimensions was in the two genotypes of the Batory White variety (Bato A and Bato M) and the Alimi variety (1.78 - 1.72 - 1.73 cm, respectively), while the highest Percentage of fruit sphericity was reached in the Jal S variety genotype and reached (77.63%). The majority of the genotypes of the Ashouri variety were characterized by a good to very high Percentage of nut split, the highest of which was the red Ashouri type Asho C (95.80%). The Percentage of nut blank varied between the studied varieties and genotypes and was lowest in the Asho A Entebbe variety (3.84%) and highest in the Alimi variety (19.96%). The Abu Riha variety and the Ashouri variety Asho M142 were distinguished by an excellent fresh fruit weight (2.36 g and 2.28 g, respectively). The highest net Percentage was achieved in the Jal S variety and the two varieties Alimi and Lazroudi (58.70 - 58.48 - 57.47%, respectively). The Asho M142 genotype was characterized by the highest average tree production in the first and third seasons (40.88 - 26.37 kg/tree, respectively). The Ajami variety and the Bato A cultivar showed a tendency to exchange loads (alternate bearing) to a moderate to slight degree compared to the rest of the studied types and genotypes. The degree of alternate for the first and second seasons was (31.69 - 34.44%) and for the second and third seasons (51.88 - 50.26%). The experiment results showed enormous admixing and overlapping in the terminology that falls into one variety and the existence of promising genotypes characterized by good production and quality specifications that can contribute to breeding and genetic improvement programs.