Determination of the Best Pollinizer for New Quince (Cydonia oblonga Mill.) Cultivar “Viduja”

Fruit production with good quality depends on determination of self-fertility and self-incompatibility of cultivars as well as the best pollinizer. Therefore, this research was carried out to study the best pollinizer for introduced quince cultivar “Viduja”. The effects of the male parents, including KVD2, KVD4, Isfahan, Torsh and also open pollination were studied on quantitative and quality characteristics of the pollen recipient parent in a randomized complete block design with four replications at the Horticultural Research Station of Mobarakeh, Isfahan, Iran. To determine the best pollinizar, shoots of the donor parents were cut and the required amount of the pollen grains was prepared in the laboratory. Flowers of “Viduja” cultivar were emasculated in the balloon stage and covered with isolation bags. The isolation bags were removed temporarily and emasculated flowers were crossed with the pollen of donor parents. Female parent incompatibility was evaluated with covering a number of flowers in the balloon stage. Hand self-pollination and open pollination were carried out for “Viduja” cultivar. The results showed that there was not fruit set in self-pollinationed treatments. The highest fruit set obtained with pollens of KVD2 genotype. The length, diameter and fruit weight were not affected by the type of pollen, and only natural and hand self pollinated treatments had significant differences with other treatments. The highest total soluble solids were obtained from pollinated flowers with pollens of KVD2 genotype and open pollination. The pollen grain type had no significant effect on other fruit quality traits. In conclusion, the best source of pollen for “Viduja" quince cultivar was KVD2 genotype. Therefor the cultivation of this genotype is recommended in the “Viduja” orchards.