Performance of ‘Okitsu’ satsuma mandarin trees on different rootstocks in Northwestern Parana State

Resumo

In the State of Paraná, citrus production is based mainly on Rangpur lime rootstock, which has good results with the established cultivars. However, research is needed into rootstocks for use with cultivars that remain to be commercially exploited. The objective of this study was to evaluate the vegetative development and yield of ‘Okitsu’ satsuma mandarin plants (Citrus unshiu Marc.), as well as fruit quality, budded on nine rootstocks in the Northwest State of Paraná, Brazil. The orchard was established at the Experimental Station of the Agronomic Institute of Paraná-IAPAR, Paranavaí, PR, in January 2001. The experimental design was randomized blocks with nine treatments, three replications, and two plants per plot. The rootstocks were Rangpur lime (Citrus limonia Osb.), Cleopatra mandarin (Citrus reshni hort. ex Tanaka), C-13 citrange [Citrus sinensis × Poncirus trifoliata orange (L.) Raf.], Volkamer lemon (Citrus volkameriana V. Ten. e Pasq.), Carrizo citrange [C. sinensis × P. trifoliata (L.) Raf.], Sunki mandarin (Citrus sunki hort. ex Tanaka), trifoliate orange [P. trifoliata (L.) Raf. ], Swingle citrumelo [Citrus paradisi Macfad. cv. Duncan × P. trifoliata (L.) Raf.], and Caipira DAC sweet orange [C. sinensis (L.) Osb.]. The largest plant canopy to ‘Okitsu’ was induced by Cleopatra and the lowest by trifoliata, with 37.1 m3 and 9.9 m3, respectively. The highest relationship between scion and rootstock trunk diameter was observed for the plants budded on Swingle. The largest accumulated yields per plant over eight seasons were induced by Volkamer, Rangpur, Caipira DAC, Cleopatra, and Carrizo, ranging from 867.3 to 989.6 kg. These rootstocks also induced the largest fruit mass, along with Sunki, ranging from 173.3 to 188.0 g. Trifoliate induced accumulated production of 52.5% in relation to Rangpur lime. Rangpur, Carrizo, trifoliate, and Swingle induced the largest averages for the ratio, ranging from 10.41 to 10.79. For orchard planning, plants on Cleopatra require the largest tree spacing both in and between rows, while the smallest tree spacing is required for plants on trifoliate. The theoretical yield estimated according to the appropriate spacing for each rootstock ranged from 95.6 to 152.1 t·ha-1 for the nine rootstocks, with no differences among them.