AUTHOR=Traini Chiara , Facchin Simona Lucia , Brigante Raffaella , Vinci Alessandra , Persichetti Sofia , Meneghini Massimiliano , Micheli Maurizio , Famiani Franco , Portarena Silvia , Dradi Giuliano , Farinelli Daniela TITLE=Field performance of grafted, micropropagated, and own-rooted plants of three Italian hazelnut cultivars during the initial four seasons of development JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science VOLUME=15 YEAR=2024 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2024.1412170 DOI=10.3389/fpls.2024.1412170 ISSN=1664-462X ABSTRACT=Introduction

Over the course of four consecutive years, a comparative study, for the first time, was carried out to assess their growth characteristics, vegetative and productive performances.

Material

Micropropagated, grafted on not suckering rootstock and own-rooted plants by layering from three Italian hazelnut (Corylus avellana L.) cultivars were established in the same orchard and environmental condition.

Results

We found that the micropropagated plants, regardless of the variety considered, even being smaller than the other plants at the beginning of the plantation, reached similar sizes as the other plants after four growing seasons. Furthermore, micropropagated plants exhibited greater uniformity in growth compared to grafted ones, while own-rooted plants displayed more variability. No significant differences in yield performance and canopy volume were observed among the three propagation methods. These results suggest that the in vitro propagation technique, even in hazelnut, allows standardizing the plant material while preserving cultivar characteristics. Finally, in vitro propagation as well as grafting can be safely recommended for the cultivation of hazelnut cultivars.