Journées d’Etudes sur les Ressources Naturelles de la Région de Taza (JERNRT 2015) PHENOLOGICAL EVALUATION OF FIVE ALMOND [Prunus dulcis (Mill.) D.A.Webb] VARIETIES GROWN IN NORTHERN MOROCCO. By : SAKAR El Hassan Director of thesis : Pr. RHARRABTI Yahia Laboratory : Ressources Naturelles et Environnement, FPT Taza. Taza, November from 16 to 18th, 2015

PLAN Introduction Why do we should know the phenological calendar of a plant ? The phenological growth stages in almond tree Materiels and Methods Plant materiel and marking Sites of the study BBCH Scale Statistical analysis Results and discussion Results What do our results mean ?

Introduction The almond tree is the major nut tree and the second fruit tree after the olive with an acreage of about ha, With MT of shelled almonds, Morocco is the 5th most productive country in the world, High economic value, Taza-Al-Hoceima-Taounate region accounts for about 37% of the national cultivated area and ensures more than 18% of total production

Introduction Almond culture The modern system the traditional system Marcona Fournat de Breznaud Ferragnes Ferraduel -Mainly seedling almond on poor soil; -In rainfed conditions. -Caracterised by a low production.

Introduction Why do we should know the phenological calendar of a plant?  Pest and diseases treatment,  Plant protection,  Optimization of the agricultural practices such as irrigation, fertilisation, pruning, harvesting, …  pollination,  Establishment of new orchards and their management.

Introduction The phenologocal growth stages in almond tree are :  Leafing,  Blooming  Nouaison  Maturity

Materials and Methods: The plant material: Five commercial varieties of almond, the most cultivated, were identified and tagged :  Marcona,  Fournat de Breznaud,  Ferragnés,  Ferraduel,  And Tuono. Each variety was represented by three replications in each site of the study The tree are ten years old.

Materials and Methods: Our work was carried out in three representative sites, in the region of Taza-Al-Hoceima-Taounate, namely Aknoul, Bni Hdifa and Thar Essouk( the map below):

Materials and Methods: Periodical field visits were carried from February to August 2015 in order to determine phenological stages by using the BBCH scale. The time of each stage was recorded in Julian days :  Initial blooming date,  Full blooming date,  Final blooming date,  Blooming duration,  Ripening date

Materials and Methods: The BBCH scale

Materials and Methods: The statistical analysis was performed by the SAS software in order to compare the main agronomic traits between: Varieties, Sites, Replications Their interactions

Results and discussion ANOVA analyses showed that all studied traits (initial blooming date, full blooming date, final blooming date, blooming duration and repining date) were genotype-dependents no statistical differences between Ferragnés and Ferraduel for initial blooming date, full blooming date and blooming duration The same picture was reflected between Marcona and Fournat de Breznaud, So their periof of flowering are synchronous

Results and discussion Fournat de Breznaud is a good pollinator for Marcona, Ferragnés and Ferraduel pollinate each other, Tuono, a self-compatible variety with a late blooming date, There isn’t any relationship between the blooming time and ripening time.

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