Rootstock Breeding: An Analysis of Intractability

Breeding rootstocks for fruit crops is slower than scion breeding in the same species. This is due to the testing requirements of rootstocks that reduce the opportunity for comprehensive first tests on individual plants and to expanding selection criteria for rootstocks. Rootstock breeding is a relatively new discipline of fruit crop improvement and novel functions of rootstocks still are being understood and developed; this increases the requirements of rootstocks without diminishing the testing requirements.