Phenological assessment of cultivars and selections of peach and nectarine trees with low exigency of chilling

Abstract

There is a great shortage of rustic cultivars adapted to warm climate; a tendency due to the climate change that is occurring throughout the world. It is therefore imperative to study the behavior of new cultivars of peach and nectarine trees adapted to conditions of low exigency of chilling. This work is aimed at the characterization of peach and nectarine tree selections in Jundiaí-SP. We have studied nine selections: seven of peach and two of nectarine trees. The plants were installed in an experimental design of blocks at random with four replications and two plants per plot. It was evaluated the phenological development, the production cycle, with special attention to fruits weight and fruit physical characteristics. It has been found great potential for some selections for early premature flowers and proper fruit size such as IAC 282-24, Aurojima and IAC N 680-178. The selections IAC N 680-167, IAC 371-2, IAC 6982-29 showed median cycle of production. The selections IAC 282-24 and IAC 6982-29 stood out by the color of white flesh and loose stones.