Page 113 - Zbornik_Konf_2019

https://doi.org/10.15414/2019.9788055220703

4 International Scientific Conference Abstracts Book
th
METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH TO THE ASSESSMENT OF HAZELNUT CULTIVARS
POLLEN PRODUCTIVITY
Svitlana Los

Ukrainian Research Institute of Forestry and Forest Melioration,
Kharkiv, Ukraine; E-mail.: svitlana_los@ukr.net
The sufficient amount of the pollen is the main condition for successful cross-pollination
on hazelnut plantations and obtaining stable and abundant yields. The hazelnut cultivars are
usually assessed by yield, nuts quality, and winter resistance, while their ability to produce
the pollen is often overlooked. In our previous investigations (Sitnik, Los, 1989; Los, 2007),
the evaluation of hazelnut varieties as pollinators was carried out by indicators of the catkin
formation intensity and winter resistance. Jetschni and Jochner-Oette (2019) have used the
indicator 'pollen production' for hazelnut, which characterizes the number of pollen grains
from the plant. At the same time, the indicator 'pollen productivity', which characterizes the
mass of pollen from one plant (Pel'menyova, Rudninskaya, 1975), is often used to characterize
the agricultural plants. The study aimed to develop a simple and accessible methodological
approach to assess the pollen productivity of hazelnut cultivars.
The research was carried out in 2019 at the hazelnut collection orchard established in
1988, where the best cultivars by URIFFM breeding (F. Pavlenko) were represented. The
catkins of 13 cultivars were collected in three terms ((1) the catkin elongation beginning, (2)
the maximum catkin elongation, (3) the beginning of the pollen flying). Сatkins (20–30 psc.)
were placed in paper bags or plastic cups and dried at room temperature (+18–20 °C) or in a
thermostat (+ 25 °C). After drying and separation the pollen, they were weighed on electronic
scales and pollen output from one catkin (the weight of pollen from one catkin, g) was
determined.
The pollen productivity (Pp) was determined as the pollen output from one plant
according to the formula: Pp = Po * Nc * Nb, where Po – the pollen output from one catkin (g),
Nc – the average number of catkins on the skeletal branch and Nb – the estimated number of
branches in the shrub. The estimated number of branches was assumed to be 10
(Recommendations for the establishment of industrial plantations of nut-bearing plants in
Ukraine, 1985).
A comparison of pollen output from one catkin of the samples collected in different
terms allowed us to conclude that they should be harvested during the period of the
maximum catkin elongation but before the pollen flight beginning. Harvesting in other terms
has led to a decrease in pollen output. The values of pollen output from one catkin of the same
cultivars were similar at different temperatures of drying. The samples are more conveniently
to dry in the plastic cups.
The average pollen output from one catkin of the studied cultivars was 0.033 g. The
values for the cultivars varied from 0.012 (Lozovsky sharovidny) to 0.045 g (Dnipro-1). Pollen
productivity of the entire plant was ranged from 40.2 (Podarunok yunatam) to 210.9 g (Dar
Pavlenka). Cultivars Dnipro-1, Kharkiv-3, and Badius can produce at least about 100 g of
pollen, and Podarunok yunatam, Lozovsky sharovidny, and Davydovsky can produce less than
50 g. So according to the preliminary data, the best pollinators are the cultivars Dar Pavlenka,
Dnipro-1, Kharkiv-3, and Badius.
Significantly higher dependences of the pollen output from the plant on the number of
catkins in the bunch (r = 0.62) and on the pollen output from one catkin (r = 0.51) than on the
number of catkin bunches on the shrub (r = 0.12) were detected.

Keywords: hazelnut, pollen, catkins, pollen mass, pollen productivity.

4 International Scientific Conference Agrobiodiversity Nutrition, Health and Quality of Human and Bees Life |113
th
September 11–13, 2019