d - How do improved varieties of plants affect NWFP production? Which are they?

Clonal variation in susceptibility to Leptoglossus occidentalis in grafted Stone pine plantations

Leptoglossus seed bug instars feeding on a cone (left). Insect-proof cages (right)

Some experiments conducted at the Institute of Agri-Food Research and Technology of Catalonia (IRTA), aimed at evaluating the productive capacity of Stone pine clones from different Spanish provenance regions (PR) under Leptoglossus occidentalis Heideman attack, are presented. This pest is severely affecting Stone pine stands in the Iberian Peninsula, hence, identifying genotypes less susceptible to L. occidentalis attack is an important line of research in this area.

Mass multiplication of ink-resistant chestnut clones by photoautotrophic micropropagation

Nursery of Maceda - Tragsa (Ourense,Spain)

Chestnut ink disease, caused by root pathogens (Phytophthora sp. ),  induces dieback and mortality in sweet chestnut, C. sativa. Classical biological control can be efficient using ink resistance rootstocks that block the entrance of the fungus.

In this context, selected ink-resistant chestnut clones need to be propagated massively. Here, a method is presented for multplication and rooting clones under photoautotrophic conditions.

Registered elite clones for cone production in grafted stone pine orchard plantations

The high prices paid for genuine Mediterranean pine nuts kernels as gourmet nuts are due to an sustained demand on the world market, not met by the production harvested from the wild.  The use of grafted Mediterranean stone pine trees allows landowners to establish profitable new plantations with precocious cone yields. For this purpose, genotypes have been selected in Spain and Portugal. Here we present 15 clones registered in Spain with estimated gains of around +10-30% in mean cone yield.