Teste de autopolinização em maracujazeiro azedo em pre-antese no Distrito Federal

Abstract

Brazil has emerged as the largest producer and consumer of passion fruit. However, crop protection and management continue to be a problem for in this crop. One of the alternatives developed in plant breeding programs aiming to improve such problems is to obtain hybrids. However, due to self-incompatibility observed in passion fruit, low self-fertilization rates have hindered this kind of study. Thus, understanding the importance of self-fertilization in the development of passion fruit hybrids, the objective of this study was to test the pollination process before anthesis in flower buds of sour passion fruit as an important alternative in breeding programs with focus on hybrids development. Therefore, a field test was performed with 220 flower buds. Two hundred flower buds were self-pollinated before anthesis, whereas 20 flower buds were cross-pollinated before anthesis, with pollen from flower buds of different plants in the experimental field. Cross-pollinated flower buds did not set fruits. Flower buds undergoing the crossing technique (cross-pollination between different plants) set fruits.