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Walnut

140 Walnut Rootstock Trial

Principle Investigator: Dr. Elizabeth Fichtner, Area Advisor, University of California Cooperative Extension, Tulare

In 2016 Lindcove Research and Extension Center (LREC) welcomed its first nut crop on site.  As part of a statewide Specialty Crops Research Initiative (SCRI) study, a walnut rootstock performance trial has been planted at LREC.  In advance of planting, Elizabeth Fichtner, UCCE farm advisor, and Stephanie Doria, College of the Sequoias intern, sampled the plot for presence of Phytophthora, a pathogen common on both citrus and walnut.  In February 2016, Dr. Andreas Westphal, UC Riverside CE Specialist in Nematology, joined Fichtner to survey the block for nematodes.  The new walnut research plot has new rootstock genotypes produced by the Walnut Improvement Program at UC Davis for evaluation of performance in the southern San Joaquin Valley.

Dr. Andreas Westphal surveys the field for nematodes
Dr. Andreas Westphal surveys the field for nematodes