An Investigation into the effect of different pollen sources on fruit set of palms obtained from tissue culture and offshoot of Barhi, Piaroom and Mazafati cultivars

One of the problems faced by Phoenix dactylifera L growers in different parts of the country is the lack of a favorable fruit set for tissue culture seedlings of some cultivars recently. This study is conducted to investigate the effects of pollen of different cultivars on the fruit set of Phoenix dactylifera L tissue culture and offshoot palms of Barhi, Piaroom, and Mazafati cultivars in the garden of Jahrom Agricultural Research Station. During the years 2018 - 2019, in a factorial experiment, three factors have been performed in three replications with a randomized complete block design. The first factor involves different pollen with five levels (i.e., codes 7001 (control), 7005, 7013, 7030, and Boyer 11 obtained from tissue culture (B11)) with the second factor being the cultivar type in three levels (Barhi, Pyaram, and Mazafati), and  the third one, the type of seedlings, all applied on 90 ten-year-old trees in two levels (tissue culture and offshoot). Results show that the highest percentage of natural fruit set has been observed in Mazafati cultivar with 7013 and 7030 pollens and 7013 pollen in Barhi cultivar. The lowest percentage of natural fruit set belongs to tissue culture method in Barhi cultivar with pollen 7001 (control). In general, 7013 and 7030 pollens have been identified as the most suitable pollinator base to increase the percentage of normal fruit set and reduce parthenocarpic and fallen fruits of Barhi, Piaroom, and Mazafati cultivars obtained from tissue culture and offshoot.