Backcrossing Failure between Sikitita Olive and Its Male Parent Arbequina: Implications for the Self-Incompatibility System and Pollination Designs of Olive Orchards.

Backcrossing between Sikitita and its male parent Arbequina, offers the possibility to check the suitability of different self-incompatibility models proposed for olive. To determine Sikitita's response to self- and cross-pollination treatments, including pollination with its father Arbequina, we compared the parameters following pollen-pistil interaction, the resulting initial and final fruit set, and the paternity of the seeds produced under different crosses. The results showed that Sikitita behaves as a self-incompatible cultivar due to the inhibition of pollen tube growth in the pistil of self-pollinated flowers.

Pollen production in olive cultivars and its interannual variability.

Background And Aims: Olive (Olea europaea subsp. europaea var. europaea) is the most extensively cultivated fruit crop worldwide.

Olive Bud Dormancy Release Dynamics and Validation of Using Cuttings to Determine Chilling Requirement.

Dormancy release dynamics in olive tree ( L.) reproductive buds as affected by cold accumulation, tree bearing status, and budburst temperature was studied under natural and controlled conditions, using both cuttings and container- and field-grown plants. The chilling necessary for dormancy release was acquired at different times within the bud population, presenting a progressive pattern of reproductive budburst.

Cultivar and Tree Density As Key Factors in the Long-Term Performance of Super High-Density Olive Orchards.

Super high-density (SHD) olive orchards are rapidly expanding since the first plantation was set up in Spain in the 1990s. Because there are no long-term studies characterizing these systems, it is unknown if densities above a certain threshold could trigger competition among fully-grown trees, compromising their development. Over 14 years we have evaluated the performance of the major olive cultivars currently planted in SHD systems ("Arbequina," Arbequina IRTA-i·18, "Arbosana," "Fs-17," and "Koroneiki") and nine SHD designs ranging from 780 to 2254 trees ha(-1) for the cultivar "Arbequina.