Pollen Paternity Can Affect Kernel Size and Nutritional Composition of Self-Incompatible and New Self-Compatible Almond Cultivars

Breeding programs for horticultural tree crops focus on enhancing productivity, including developing tolerance to pests and diseases improving crop quality. Pollination services are often critical production, pollen parents can affect We do not know which produce highest quality offspring or, in self-compatible cultivars, how much of the comes from cross- versus self-pollination. quantified proportions self- cross-paternity an open pollination setting five standard commercial almond cultivars six new selected yield, kernel size, taste or self-compatibility. assessed by different affected size nutritional Kernels most resulted almost entirely cross-pollination. Most kernels cultivar ‘Price’ cross-pollination but 21% In contrast, 48–91% Different cross-pollen did greatly The self-paternity varied strongly suggesting that some may be good candidates establishing monovarietal orchards.