Agronomic features of introduced Argan tree in eastern of Morocco and optimization of their propagation

Abstract

Argania spinosa or argan is an endemic plant of Morocco that belongs to sapotaceae family. This species has significant ecological and socioeconomical impact in Morocco and is mainly recognized by argan oil that is very known for its nutritional quality and health benefits. Our study aims to elaborate an agronomical and pomological characterization of introduced argan trees in Oujda, Morocco (about 200 trees, 10 years old) , select high-performance clone heads based on their productivity and stability criteria, by measuring various productivity parameters over a tree years study period (fresh fruit production, almonds production and oil production), and successfully propagate them asexually using apical grafting technique in controlled condition ( phytotron ) with the aim of stabilizing the high-performance clone. The obtained results indicated the existence of high diversity in terms of the various pomological parameters assessed. Parallelly, productivity and profitability parameters, the average production of fresh fruits, almonds and oil per tree and per year was 8.62 kg, 0.253 kg and 0.133 L, respectively. While, the maximal production was 34.4 kg/year for fresh fruits production, 1.07 kg/year/tree for almonds, and 0.575 liter/year/tree oil produced. Regarding the propagation of these clones, the results showed that the grafting success rate depended on the mother stock and the season, with 100% success rate. The results obtained show that the argan tree is an adaptive species, and the most suitable grafting method for the argan tree is apical split grafting during the autumn season.