Thirty two genetically diverse walnut accessions were characterized and evaluated for the period of three years (20062008). All the accessions bore nuts in the terminal position while all but one possessed satisfactory kernel flavour. More than half the accessions studied exhibited ‘spreading’ tree shape, medium-sized leaves, elliptic leaflets, large catkins, protandry, ‘round’ nuts, ‘medium’ intensity in shell colour, amber-coloured kernels and ‘medium’ productivity. Highest Coefficient of Variation was observed for kernel weight (38.50%), number of staminate flowers/inflorescence (35.42%), shell weight (33.95%), and nut weight (32.88%) indicating that there is enough potential for exploiting the variability present in these characters. The huge variability displayed might be due to the presence of two related species, material from diverse geographical origin and seedling origin of indigenous materials. Highly significant and positive phenotypic correlation between nut weight and its associated traits like nut width, nut length, shell weight, shell thickness and kernel weight was observed. High productivity was recorded in nine accessions, but analysis of nut traits, and other important traits revealed that two accessions namely IC019378 and IC020108 may merit for popularization. Promising acc. were also identified for individual traits affecting nut quality which can serve as donors in breeding programme.
Walnut, Characterization, Evaluation, Genetic resources, Juglans regia
