Productive and Agronomic Behaviour of New Cultivars and Lines of Seed Propagated Artichoke

Abstract

[EN] The artichoke crop in Spain is mainly reproduced by vegetative propagation, using cuttings, stumps or stalks, the cultivar ‘Blanca de Tudela’ with green heads being the most important. In the south of Valencia and Murcia Communities the cultivar ‘Violet de Provence’ with purple heads is also produced, to be exported to France. The vegetative propagation presents physiological, pathological and financial drawbacks. For that reason this work analyzes the viability of new seed cultivars of artichoke. The agronomic behaviour of 20 seed propagated cultivars/ lines was studied, eleven of them with green heads and nine with purple heads, and using ‘Blanca de Tudela’ and ‘Violet de Provence’ as respective controls, being both asexually propagated cultivars. Seeds were sown on 8 June 2010 and transplanting was carried out on 21 July 2010, in open-field conditions in Paiporta (Valencia, Spain). The highest early yield in green head cultivars/lines was achieved by NUN 4011 (0.51 kg m-2) not differing from that obtained in ‘Blanca de Tudela’ (0.4 kg m-2). The highest early yields in purple head cultivars/lines was obtained by NUN 4146 (0.44 kg m-2), not showing differences either from the control ‘Violet de Provence’ (0.4 kg m-2). At end of harvest, the greatest cumulative yield in the green head cultivars/lines was reached by ‘NUN 4011’ (2.75 kg m-2); while among purple head cultivars/lines it was achieved by ‘Opal’ (2.24 kg m-2). Final yield in both green and purple head control cultivars was lower than those for the most productive seed propagated cultivars/lines. Both ‘NUN 4011’ and ‘Opal’ excelled by their low level of non-marketable yield and good quality of artichoke heads.