Rootstock Trial Station, Kodur (Andhra Pradesh), India
From the results of the rootstock investigations for Sathgudi sweet orange conducted from 1938 to 1966 at Kodur. Gajanimma rootstock was formed to be outstanding in yields but poor in fruits quality and disease resistance. Jamberi, acid lime and Kichili were found to be vigorous and potential rootstocks but susceptible to disease. Sathgudi rootstock was more tolerant to disease, high yielding and with good fruit quality. All the other rootstocks were found to be highly unsuitable. The performance of the Sathgudi seedling trees was very poor even though they were more tolerant to disease. Under the prevailing circumstances Sathgudi itself is recommended as rootstock for Sathgudi. Further trials with different strains of Jamberi which is a potential rootstock for Sathgudi, use of virus free bud material and nucellar seedlings for propagation, adopting a suitable spray schedule to keep off the insect vectors carrying viruses and further trials with some more promising rootstocks are suggested. Work on these lines is under way at the Regional Fruit Research Station, Ananthanajupet (Kodur), Andhra Pradesh.
