Vol. 114 No. 2 (2020)
Research Papers

Phenological and pomological characterization of Argania spinosa (L.) to select promising trees for breeding program

Ilham Rahmouni
National Institute of Agronomy Research (INRA), Rabat Regional Research Center, Plant Breeding Research Unit, Morocco; Mohammed V University in Rabat, Faculty of Sciences, Plant Biotechnology and Physiology Laboratory, Morocco
Siham Oumouss
National Institute of Agronomy Research (INRA), Rabat Regional Research Center, Plant Breeding Research Unit, Morocco
Ghizlane Tobi
National Institute of Agronomy Research (INRA), Rabat Regional Research Center, Plant Breeding Research Unit, Morocco
Ahmed Douaik
National Institute of Agronomy Research (INRA), Morocco
Mohammed Bouksaim
National Institute of Agronomy Research (INRA), Morocco
Yasmina Elbahloul
National Institute of Agronomy Research (INRA), Rabat Regional Research Center, Plant Breeding Research Unit, Morocco

Published 2020-12-30

How to Cite

Rahmouni, I., Oumouss, S., Tobi, G., Douaik, A., Bouksaim, M., & Elbahloul, Y. (2020). Phenological and pomological characterization of Argania spinosa (L.) to select promising trees for breeding program. Journal of Agriculture and Environment for International Development (JAEID), 114(2), 7–20. https://doi.org/10.12895/jaeid.20202.1179

Abstract

The agro-morphological characterization is crucial in order to provide information for plant breeding programs. The goal of the present study was to determine phenotypic diversity and to detect superior trees. Six hundred and eightieth genotypes of argan tree (Argania spinosa (L,) Skeels) were characterized by using qualitative and quantitative agro-morphological traits. Majority studied characteristics were showing a high degree of variability, but it was highly pronounced for fruit-spine, branches number, trunk diameter and first leaf height. A significant correlation was found among some evaluated variables. The principal component analysis for quantitative traits showed that four components explained 65% of the total variation and revealed that traits related to fruits, leaves, tree display and trunk diameter contribute for a large proportion of the ob­served variability. The results indicated that most of genotypes can be considered a good gene pool for breeding programs and rootstock development programs. More, they could be useful as a parent to be crossed to generating appropriate populations or improve cultivars.