Assessment of Flowering and Bearing of Twelve Pistachio (Pistacia vera L.) Cultivars Under Khorasan Environmental Conditions

In order to choose climate-compatible pistachio cultivars in Khorasan, this research was carried out in Pistachio Research Station in Feizabad on 12 pistachio cultivars namely Badami-e- sefid, Pesteh-e-ghermez, Barg seyah, Daneshmandi, Pesteh-e-garmeh, Akbari, Kalehghouchi, Owhadi, Khanjari, Abasali, Shahpasand and Momtaz, based on a randomized complete block design with three replications during three years(2006-2008). The results showed that the factors year, treatment (cultivars) and their interaction effects were significant (p < 0.01) for all characteristics. The highest number of flower bud per shoot was on Barg-seyah and Akbari and the lowest on Pesteh-e-garmeh cultivars. The most early and late flowering cultivars were Pesteh-e-garmeh and Akbari respectively, which had 12 days difference at the biggining of flowering. There was significant difference between Badami-e- sefid with 20 nuts per cluster and Abasali with 7 nuts. The highest and the lowest percentage of blank pistachio were 24 and 7.4 on Badami-e-sefid and Abasali, respectively. Pesteh-e-garmeh and Pesteh-e-ghermez with 32 and 30 nuts had the smallest and the biggest nuts per ounce. Shahpasand (native of Damghan region) showed the highest percentage of early splitting (14.8%) and had significant difference (p < 0.01) with other cultivars. In addition, Momtaz, Shahpasand, Khanjari and Owhadi did not show suitable compatibility, but, Badami-e-sefid, Akbari and Pesteh-e-garmeh showed more compatibility than the other cultivars.