Comparison of Nut Characteristics and Yield of some Selected Persian Walnut (Juglans regia L.) Genotypes with Foreign Cultivars

The area of walnut orchards has been has increased rapidly in Iran, using seedling rootstocks in recent years. With the goal of releasing new walnut cultivar(s), in the present research twenty one walnut genotypes preselected based on their regular bearing, high productivity and spring frost resistance were compared with three foreign walnut cultivars Hartley, Chandler and Pedro and two pollinizer cultivars Franquette and Ronde de Montignac as control, during 2010 and 2011. Results showed that among cultivars and genotypes, nut weight varied from 7 g in Ronde de Montignac to 13.6 g in genotype H2/11. The kernel weight also varied from 3.17 g in the Ronde de Montignac to 7.22 g in the genotype H2/11. The kernel percentage varied from 41.5% in cultivar Pedro to 58% in genotypes H2/12. For the kernel yield, the genotype H2/12 with 3133 kgha-1 was most productive. Meanwhile, the highest nut yield belonged to genotype H2/12 with 5369 kgha-1. Based on the results the genotypes H1/1, H2/1, H1/7, H2/12 and B10 were selected as promising genotypes for further studies in different regions.