Selection and Agronomical Evaluation for Some Elite Genotypes of Jojoba

Aim: Jojoba is a domesticated plant successfully cultivated in the desert of Egypt. The methods used by jojoba farmers in the past have been varied, as there were no real records on the performance of cultivated plants of jojoba. Moreover, cultivated areas of jojoba originated from seed which leads to high variability within plant parameters. The present investigation aimed to identify elite genotypes of jojoba plants to be used as a seed for jojoba germplasm with high seed yields for breeding purposes.

Study Design: Screening of two different orchards located in different locations for jojoba genotypes was performed to select and evaluate elite genotypes. Ten female and two male genotypes were selected from two locations and subjected to vegetative, phenology and yield evaluation during 2014 and 2015.

Methodology: selected genotypes were subjected to evaluation at morphological, seed characterization, yield, pollen viability and molecular identification by ISSR marker.

Results: Female genotypes from two screened locations had similar heights except for one genotype from Elkasassein which scored a height of 624 cm. Phenology parameters were investigated from the beginning of flowering which extended from late November till mid of December. Full bloom extended from mid of January to the first of March. A number of flowers ranged from five to eight flowers per one meter length. Seed weight of female genotypes from the desert road orchard was higher than those of females from the Elkasassein orchard. Generally, seed weight ranged from 0.73 to 1.37 g for strain No.8 and strain No.4, respectively. ISSR based dendrogram revealed different relationships among the tested genotypes.

Conclusion: It could be concluded that there is a wide variation among the tested genotypes of jojoba. These variations are valuable in the breeding program and contribute to the improvement of jojoba plants.