Source: UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY submitted to NRP
IMPROVING ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY IN TREE-FRUIT PRODUCTION THROUGH CHANGES IN ROOTSTOCK USE
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
COMPLETE
Funding Source
HATCH
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1014226
Grant No.
(N/A)
Cumulative Award Amt.
(N/A)
Proposal No.
(N/A)
Multistate No.
NC-_old140
Project Start Date
Oct 1, 2017
Project End Date
Sep 30, 2022
Grant Year
(N/A)
Program Code
[(N/A)]- (N/A)
Recipient Organization
UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY
(N/A)
LOGAN,UT 84322
Performing Department
Plants, Soils & Climate
Non Technical Summary
Tree-fruit growers must adopt economically and environmentally sustainable orchard management strategies to remain competitive in both national and international markets, to meet consumer demand for high quality fruit, to address the pressure to reduce chemical use, and to enhance production efficiency. The root system, or rootstock, is a key orchard component to address these issues. The rootstock provides control of tree vigor and final tree size, allowing for closer tree spacing and more trees per land area resulting in high density plantings. Higher density plantings lead to earlier production and greater yield potentials. To stay profitable, growers must establish higher-density orchards of cultivars in demand by consumers and having higher market values. However, establishment costs for high-density orchards are 10 to 20 times more per land area than lower-density plantings, thus greatly increasing economic risk. Potential economic returns of high-density orchards, however, can far exceed orchards at a lower-density, particularly during the first 10 years. Past NC-140 research has successfully identified reliable size-controlling, early-bearing rootstocks for apple and cherry, and led to the integration of their use in high-density production systems to reduce tree size, labor costs and significant tree and/or production losses from disease and environmental stresses. Although size-controlling rootstocks are currently in the relatively early stages of development for peaches, pears, apricots, and plums, this project seeks to identify and evaluate potential size-controlling rootstocks and associated orchard strategies to increase production and sustainability in these tree fruits as well.In addition to tree size, the rootstock profoundly affects sustainable productivity, fruit quality, pest resistance, amenability to mechanization technologies, adaptability to different soil types, stress tolerance, and ultimately profitability. Many commercially available rootstocks have inherent weaknesses and have not been evaluated thoroughly for potential problems in different production environments. Continued tree losses due to cold temperature injury, disease, scion incompatibility, and poor soil conditions are an economic cost for the industry that can be ameliorated by improving rootstock genotype options. There is a concomitant demand by growers for timely research that solves production problems and provides information for the prevention of costly mistakes.
Animal Health Component
100%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
100%
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
2031110102025%
2031112102050%
2031114102025%
Knowledge Area
203 - Plant Biological Efficiency and Abiotic Stresses Affecting Plants;

Subject Of Investigation
1114 - Peach; 1110 - Apple; 1112 - Cherry;

Field Of Science
1020 - Physiology;
Goals / Objectives
To evaluate the influence of rootstocks on temperate-zone fruit tree characteristics grown under varying environments and training systems using sustainable management practices. To investigate physiological processes, biotic and abiotic stresses and scion/rootstock interactions on tree growth and productivity. To integrate and disseminate research-based information that facilitates successful stakeholder adoption of rootstock technologies.
Project Methods
Objective 1To evaluate the influence of rootstocks on temperate-zone fruit tree characteristics grown under varying environments and training systems using sustainable management practices, established replicated uniform trials will be maintained, and new trials will be established across North America. Promising new and existing rootstocks as a compound genetic system will be selected and evaluated for survival, precocity, productivity, size control, anchorage, suckering, pest resistance, adaptability, and production efficiency.Data will be collected according to protocols established by the technical committee. For each trial, data collected will include root suckering, tree growth as measured by changes in trunk cross-sectional area, tree height, canopy spread, precocity, yield, yield efficiency, and fruit size. Trials will be formally concluded after 8-10 growing seasons. Designated coordinators will collect and archive data for the life of each trial for all sites. Data will be processed and annual progress reports shared with trial cooperators at annual meetings. Standard statistical analyses will be performed on all data, and trials will be summarized for publications after five and 8-10 years of testing.Objective 3To investigate physiological processes, biotic and abiotic stresses and scion/rootstock interactions on tree growth and productivity, studies will be conducted by individual members and cooperators at various institutions to elucidate stress tolerance of fruit trees as influenced by rootstocks. Basic rootstock performance data will be collected as part of the evaluation of rootstocks in the trials listed under objective 1; however, additional, more-detailed studies will be led and conducted by individual cooperators using these rootstock plantings as uniform multiple test sites.Low-temperature stress: determine the cold hardiness of rootstocks and the influence of rootstock on scion cold hardiness for apple (IA, ME, MI, MN, ONT, UT); (4) evaluation of peach rootstocks on scion cold hardiness (CO, GA, UT).General climate, water, nutritional, and physiological stress: Evaluation of peach, apple, and cherry rootstocks on alkaline soil (NM, UT).Objective 4To integrate and disseminate research-based information that facilitates successful stakeholder adoption of rootstock technologies. In 2010, an eXtension Community of Practice (CoP) was funded through USDA-SCRI, and initiated to assemble the vast quantity of apple-related information developed by NC-140 and other apple-related research. The Apple eXtension website was launched in September 2011. This novel vehicle for information collection, organization and delivery will be developed further during the period of this project. Participants will assist in developing articles to increase access to information generated from this research project and serve as experts answering questions when they arise).

Progress 10/01/19 to 09/30/20

Outputs
Target Audience:Horticultural researchers, crop consultants and commercial fruit producers Changes/Problems:As was mentioned above, the COVID-19 pandemic delayed some planned greenhouse studies that will now be carried out in 2021 instead of 2020. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?M.S. student Sam Johnson collected data related to the Root2Fruit project, successfully defending his M.S. thesis in 2020. He has since accepted a position as the superintendent of the USU Kaysville Research Farm. Ph.D. student Will Wheeler used one of the Kaysville apple trials to evaluate the effect of rootstock and scion on tree water relations in 2020. During previous years, he evaluated peach and cherry rootstocks for drought tolerance. He successfully defended his dissertation in December 2020. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Research results were presented to commercial growers at the Utah State Horticulture Association winter meeting, and at the Kaysville Fruit and Vegetable Field Day. These presentations resulted in 120 face-to-face contacts to orchard managers representing at least 80% of the commercial tree fruit acreage in Utah. Results were also presented at the Great Lakes Fruit and Vegetable Expo, a multi-state grower meeting originating from Michigan, which reached an audience of 135 participants, from throughout the U.S. Research results from this project were disseminated through 4 research papers published during 2020, including a peach rootstock trial, an apple rootstock trial, the Navajo peach work discussed previously, and a laboratory analysis of break strength in apples. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Research with existing orchards from this project will continue during 2021. Salinity screening with the greenhouse dosing system will resume in 2021. We also plan to publish results from Dr. Wheeler's dissertation during 2021.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? During the reporting period, data were collected from five coordinated multi-state rootstock experimental plantings, along with three rootstock plantings associated with the Root2Fruit project, and one additional apple rootstock planting. Five of these 9 plantings were maintained at the Kaysville Research Farm, and the others were on commercial farms in Utah and Juab counties. Objective 1. (Influence of rootstock on tree characteristics under varying environment and training system) Tree growth, yield, fruit quality and fruiting season were evaluated on mature orchards, and initial growth and precocity were evaluated in new orchards. Results from the concluding experiments have been summarized across the multistate project and submitted for publication in research journals. Utah researchers took the lead on evaluating peach data from western states (2 locations in Utah, 1 in Colorado) to determine alkaline soil tolerance. This analysis was accepted for publication in 2020 and will appear in print in early 2021. Results from this analysis and one additional Utah rootstock trial were summarized in a new Extension bulletin on selecting peach rootstocks for alkaline soils, which was published in 2020. This fact sheet has been downloaded 62 times since publication, for an average of 25 times per month. Objective 2 (genomics and breeding) Navajo peach: Graduate student Reagan Wytsalucy worked with scientists from the USDA Forage and Range Research Laboratory and from Clemson University to evaluate the genetic diversity of peach germplasm collected from Native American farmers in the desert southwest. Of the selections tested, nearly all were genetically distinct from the known references, and from one farm to the next. Three selections showed crossing with modern cultivars. The results were published in the Journal of the American Pomological Society during 2020, and were recognized with the American Pomological Society's U.P. Hedrick 2nd place award for best graduate student paper. Additional material from this collection is currently being evaluated in USU test orchards in Kaysville and Thatcher, Utah. Root2Fruit project: One of the objectives of this project is to evaluate salt tolerance of candidate rootstocks using a near continuous gradient salt dosing system using M.9 as a control. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, propagation and distribution of these trees was not possible in 2020. For the three field trials (Kaysville, Goshen, Tintic Valley), trees planted at the non-salty control site (Kaysville) have grown much more vigorously than at either of the two salty orchards. Soil analysis of the Goshen site indicates calcitic salt conditions, while the Tintic site is sodic.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Autio, W., Robinson, T., & Black, B. L. (2020, October). Budagovsky, Geneva, Pillnitz, and Malling apple rootstocks affect Fuji performance over eight years in the 2010 NC-140 Fuji Apple Rootstock Trial. Journal of the American Pomological Society, 74(4), 196-209.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Fazio, G., Adams, S., Lordan, J., Roberts, N., Robinson, T., & Black, B. L. (2020, January). Rootstock, scion, and graft type influence graft union flexural strength of apple trees. Journal of the American Pomological Society, 74(1), 24-44.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Reighard, G., Black, B. L., & Lindstrom, T. (2020, January). Nine-year rootstock performance of the NC-140 Redhaven peach trial across 13 states. Journal of the American Pomological Society, 74(1), 45-56.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Stott, L., Black, B. L., & Bugbee, B. G. (2020, January). Quantifying tree hydration using electromagnetic sensors. Horticulturae, 6(2).
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Wytsalucy, R., Gasic, K., Robbins, M., Cardon, G., Drost, D. T., & Black, B. L. (2020, April). Genetic analysis of peaches grown by Native Americans in the North American Southwest. Journal of the American Pomological Society, 74(2), 76-83.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Black, B. L., Maughan, T., Beddes, T., & Reighard, G. (2020). Selecting Rootstocks for Utah Peach Orchards. (vol. 2020-02pr). Logan: USU Extension.


Progress 10/01/18 to 09/30/19

Outputs
Target Audience:Commercial growers and the horticulture science community. Changes/Problems:None to report for this period. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?M.S. student Reagan Wytsalucy completed her graduate studies in 2019 and submitted the first of her thesis chapters for publication. The paper was selected as the 2nd place winner for the U.P. Hedrick award for best student paper submitted to the Journal of the American Pomological Society. Reagan has started a position as the San Juan County Horticulture Agent, but continues to collaborate on evaluation of Native American peach selections. M.S. student Sam Johnson has been collecting data both with the near-continuous salt dosing system, as well as three of the research orchards. He is currently analyzing the data from these experiments and plans to defend his M.S. thesis in 2020. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Research results were presented to commercial growers at the Utah State Horticulture Association winter meeting, at the Northern Utah Extension fruit meeting and at an urban farm conference at the Wheeler Historic Farm. These presentations resulted in 149 face-to-face contacts. These outreach presentations were to orchard managers representing at least 85% of the commercial tree fruit acreage in Utah. The results were also disseminated to the research community through 4 research papers, with three additional papers approved for publication in early 2020. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Research with existing orchards from this project will continue during 2020. Additional results from terminated studies (including a Redhaven peach experiment) will be submitted for publication in 2020.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? During the reporting period, data were collected from five coordinated multi-state rootstock experimental plantings, along with three rootstock plantings associated with the Root2Fruit project. Four of these 8 plantings were maintained at the Kaysville Research Farm, and the others were on commercial farms in Utah and Juab counties. One of these was a new planting established during the reporting period (apple planting near Goshen, UT). Additional research included testing drought tolerance of selected rootstocks on weighing lysimeters in the greenhouse. Objective 1. (Influence of rootstock on tree characteristics under varying environment and training system) Tree growth, yield, fruit quality and fruiting season were evaluated on mature orchards, and initial growth and precocity were evaluated in new orchards. Results from the concluding experiments have been summarized across the multistate project and submitted for publication in research journals. Utah researchers took the lead on compiling data from a long-term study of rootstocks for tart cherry production, and this final report was published in 2019. Objective 2 (genomics and breeding) Navajo peach: Graduate student Reagan Wytsalucy worked with scientists from the USDA Forage and Range Research Laboratory and from Clemson University to evaluate the genetic diversity of peach germplasm collected from Native American farmers in the desert southwest. Of the selections tested, nearly all were genetically distinct from the known references, and from one farm to the next. Three selections showed crossing with modern cultivars. The results were submitted for publication in the Journal of the American Pomological Society. Additional material from this collection is currently being evaluated in USU test orchards in Kaysville and Thatcher, Utah. Root2Fruit project: An additional Ten rootstock selections provided by the USDA apple rootstock breeding program in Geneva, NY were tested on our near continuous gradient salt dosing system using M.9 as a control. We again found that the slopes of the lines comparing salt concentration to growth were parallel, suggesting that none of the rootstocks are more salt tolerant than M.9 when exposed to salt in this system. For the three field trials (Kaysville, Goshen, Tintic Valley), trees planted at the non-salty control site (Kaysville) have grown much more vigorously than at either of the two salty orchards. Soil analysis of the Goshen site indicates calcitic salt conditions, while the Tintic site is sodic.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Adams, S., Black, B. L., Fazio, G., & Roberts, N. (2017, January). The effect of plant growth regulators on apple graft union flexural strength and flexibility. Journal of the American Pomological Society, 71(1), 8-18.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Autio, W., Robinson, T., Black, B. L., Crassweller, R., Fallahi, E., Parker, M., Parra Quezada, R., & Wolfe, D. (2017, July). Budagovsky, Geneva, Pillnitz, and Malling apple rootstocks affect Fuji performance over the first five years of the 2010 NC-140 Fuji Apple Rootstock Trial. Journal of the American Pomological Society, 71(3), 167-182.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Autio, W., Robinson, T., Black, B. L., Blatt, S., Cochoran, D., Cowgill, W., Hampson, C., Hoover, E., Lang, G., Miller, D., Minas, I., Parra Quezada, R., & Stasiak, M. (2017, July). Budagovsky, Geneva, Pillnitz, and Malling apple rootstocks affect Honeycrisp performance over the first five years of the 2010 NC-140 Honeycrisp Apple Rootstock Trial. Journal of the American Pomological Society, 71(3), 149-166.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Hansen, S., & Black, B. L. (2019, January). The Response of 'Montmorency' Tart Cherry to Renewal Pruning Strategies in a High-density System. To appear in Journal of the American Pomological Society, 73(1), 53-61.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Lordan, J., Robinson, T. L., Miranda Sazo, M., Cowgill, W., Black, B. L., Huffman, L., Grigg-McGuffin, K., Francescatto, P., & McArtney, S. (2017, August). Use of Plant Growth Regulators for Feathering and Flower Suppression of Apple Nursery Trees. HortScience, 52(8), 10890-1091.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Stott, L., Black, B. L., & Bugbee, B. G. (2019, October). Differences in drought tolerance among Gisela cherry rootstocks determined using automated weighing lysimeters. HortScience, 54(10), 1847-1852.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Other Year Published: 2019 Citation: Wheeler, W., Wytsalucy, R., Black, B. L., Cardon, G., & Bugbee, B. G. (2019, May). Navajo peach trees tolerate drought better than Lovell peach trees: Precision stress using automated weighing lysimeters. HortScience, 54(5), 799-803.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2018 Citation: Presentations Black, B. L., Applied Physiology, PGRs, Rootstocks and Orchard Systems Symposium, "Precision Tart Cherry Management, High Density and GIS approaches," International Society for Horticulture Science, Traverse City, MI. (August 24, 2018 - August 25, 2018)
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Roper, T. R., Black, B. L., Stasiak, M., Marini, R. P., Cline, J., & Robinson, T. (2019, July). Performance of Montmorency Sour Cherry (Prunus cerasus L.) on Size-Controlling Rootstocks at Six NC-140 Trial Locations in North America. Journal of the American Pomological Society, 73(3), 168-177.


Progress 10/01/17 to 09/30/18

Outputs
Target Audience:Horticultural researchers, crop consultants and commercial fruit producers Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?M.S. student Sheriden Hansen used the high density tart cherry orchards to study the effect of rootstock and training system on response to renewal pruning strategies. The minimum length of stubs in renewal cuts is related to overall rootstock vigor. She successfully defended her thesis in December 2017 and completed her degree requirements in early 2018. During the reporting period, she submitted a manuscript from her thesis which was selected as the outstanding student paper by the Journal of the American Pomological Society. This chapter will be published in early 2019. M.S. student Reagan Wytsalucy collected unique peach germplasm from locations in the Four Corners region and evaluated these selections for horticulturally important traits. During 2018, she worked closely with PhD student Will Wheeler to evaluate the relative drought tolerance of the peach selections, and these data were submitted for journal publication in December. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Research results were presented to commercial growers at the Utah State Horticulture Association winter meeting, at the Northern Utah Extension fruit meeting, and at the Utah Water User's Conference during 2018. These presentations resulted in 152 face-to-face contacts. These outreach presentations were to orchard managers representing at least 85% of the commercial tree fruit acreage in Utah. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Research with five orchards from this project will continue during 2019. Results from terminated studies will be submitted for publication in 2019.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? During the reporting period, data were collected from six different rootstock experimental plantings. Four of these were maintained at the Kaysville Research Farm, and the other two were on commercial farms in Utah County. One of these plantings was terminated, with destructive growth and root distribution analysis carried out. Objective 1. (Influence of rootstock on tree characteristics under varying environment and training system) Tree growth, yield, fruit quality and fruiting season were evaluated on mature orchards, and initial growth and precocity were evaluated in new orchards. Results from the concluding experiments have been summarized across the multistate project and submitted for publication in research journals. Objective 2 (genomics and breeding) Navajo peach: Graduate student Reagan Wytsalucy has collected unique peach germplasm from Native American farmers in the desert southwest. This material was evaluated during 2018 for drought tolerance characteristics in controlled environment conditions. Additional material was established in a test planting at the Kaysville Research farm for future evaluation of root distribution. Root2Fruit project: Ten apple rootstocks from the Geneva breeding program were tested for salt tolerance in a greenhouse study. M.9 served as a control. Trees were grown in 12-L pots containing soil-less media, and subjected to one of eight different salt levels (CaCl2) with EC ranging from 1.5 to 10.5. In 2018, all of the tested rootstocks performed similarly and showed reduced growth with increasing salt exposure. In a regression analysis, the slopes of the lines for all rootstocks and for all parameters examined were not significantly different. Three orchards were established containing 28 different rootstocks in each orchard. M.9 was planted as a control. Two of the orchard sites are irrigated with saline well water. The third location is on a USU research farm and is irrigated with less salty snowmelt water. Objective 3. (biotic and abiotic stresses interactions with scion/rootstock) An apple planting established in 2015 to evaluate water use in a two rootstock x two scion reciprocal grafting study was maintained and evaluated in 2018. Trees were subjected to extended drying cycles. During the 2018 study, drought tolerance of the trees was not correlated with rootstock genotype or the relative strength of the graft union. However, scion cultivar did show correlation with drought tolerance.

Publications

  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2018 Citation: Hansen, S., & Black, B. L. (2018). Renewal pruning strategies for 'Montmorency' tart cherry on dwarfing rootstocks. (vol. 1228, pp. 117-120). Scientia Horticulturae
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2018 Citation: Reighard, G., Bridges, W., Archbold, D., Atucha, A., Autio, W., Beckman, T., Black, B. L., & Lindstrom, T. (2018). Rootstock performance in the 2009 NC-140 peach trial across 11 states. (vol. 1228, pp. 181-186). Acta Horticulturae.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Adams, S., Lordan, J., Fazio, G., Bugbee, B. G., Francescatto, P., Robinson, T. L., & Black, B. L. (2018, January 03). Effect of scion and graft type on transpiration, hydraulic resistance and xylem hormone profile of apples grafted on Geneva41 and M.9-NIC29 rootstocks. Scientia Horticulturae, 227(2018), 213-222.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Hansen, S., Maughan, T., & Black, B. L. (2018). Training and pruning peach trees. USU Extension.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2018 Citation: Black, B. L., Applied Physiology, PGRs, Rootstocks and Orchard Systems Symposium, "Precision Tart Cherry Management, High Density and GIS approaches," International Society for Horticulture Science, Traverse City, MI. (August 24, 2018 - Present)