Project INCO

Citrus breeding for efficient water and nutrient use

... an Euro-Mediterranean initiative to face the Mediterran citrus rootstock challenge

Mediterranean citriculture faces up to an increasing combination of biotic (Citrus Tristeza Virus [CTV], phytophthora) and abiotic stresses (salinity, alkalinity). Most of these constraints should be individually managed by the rootstock choice. However, spread of CTV and its vectors all over the Mediterranean Basin will soon prohibit the current use of the traditional sour orange rootstock, that provide adequate tolerance to salinity and alkalinity. Therefore, there is an urgent need to select new citrus rootstocks. All the required traits are present in citrus germplasm but the complexity of citrus biology and genetic make it difficult to combine them through traditional breeding.