Selection of common cashew rootstocks for the Northeast region: nursery stage

Abstract

Recommendation of a clone for plantation, propagated by grafting, requires the use of rootstock. Lack of studies of interaction effects between combinations of scions and rootstocks can cause problems to plantations with clones. Consequently, it does not ensure higher productivity and uniformity. The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of eight rootstocks (six of common cashew and two of dwarf clones), from the seed germination to seedling stage in nursery. Therefore, it was set up an experiment with 16 treatments (8 rootstocks and 2 scions), four replications and nine plants per plot, totalizing 72 plants per rootstock. Evaluations were performed for the characteristics of nut weight (100 nuts per clone), vigor of rootstock and grafted seedling, and percentage of grafting success. The results demonstrated that the clones CCP 06 and CCP 76 presented nut weight 50% inferior to the common clones; high percentage of germination, more than 80% for all clones, apart from the clone Common 36; the clone Common 36 does not express potential for rootstock. In additional, it reveals differences among rootstocks, before the grafting, showing a trend that these differences also can occur in the production phase of the clones.