This PPT covers the concept and practical importance of canopy management in fruit crops through the use of rootstocks and scions. It begins with the definition of a rootstock and explains its historical development, particularly its early use in European vineyards to overcome phylloxera. The presentation highlights why rootstocks are essential in fruit propagation, especially for controlling tree size, improving precocity, and enabling efficient orchard management.
The material explains stock–scion relationships, detailing how rootstocks influence scion characteristics such as tree vigour, growth habit, flowering, fruiting, yield, fruit quality, nutrient uptake, and resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses. It also describes how scions can affect the rootstock, including impacts on root system development, cold hardiness, and longevity. The physiological and anatomical basis of dwarfing, including restricted water and solute transport, partial incompatibility, and altered hormone movement, is discussed.
The PPT further outlines the abilities and desirable traits of rootstocks, such as nursery performance, soil adaptability, climatic hardiness, and resistance to soil-borne diseases. The importance of rootstocks in imparting stress tolerance, regulating moisture and nutrient uptake, controlling tree size, improving yield and fruit quality, and ensuring early bearing is emphasized.
Problems associated with rootstock use, particularly graft incompatibility, are explained along with their symptoms, causes (anatomical, physiological, pathological), and types. Detailed sections describe rootstocks used in major fruit crops such as apple, pear, peach, plum, cherry, walnut, and several tropical and subtropical fruits. Clonal and seedling rootstocks, their characteristics, and major rootstock series (Malling, Malling Merton, Geneva, Budagovsky, etc.) are discussed with examples.
Finally, the PPT covers propagation methods used for different fruit crops and concludes that the use of dwarfing rootstocks under high-density planting systems can significantly increase productivity per unit area. It also highlights the role of modern techniques like tissue culture for rapid multiplication and production of virus-free planting material