Rootstocks have been and will be a major component of successful, sustainable, and resilient fruit production

Authors: Fazio, Gennaro

Submitted to: Acta horticulturae
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/30/2025
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: This article describes how the implementation of dwarfing apple rootstocks spurred a green revolution which has increased productivity, quality, and efficiency of apple production while at the same time decreased the acreage, labor, treatments needed to grow those apples – all things that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It is estimated that dwarfing and early bearing have added $2-3 billion yearly in production efficiency in the U.S. alone, this estimate is likely more than 10 times larger when we consider world production. Fruit growers worldwide who have used dwarfing rootstocks should congratulate themselves for their major reduction in the carbon footprint of the fruit industry. While recent advances in apple genomics and metabolomics have shed some light on the mechanisms associated with dwarfing and early bearing in apple, the possible identification of similar processes and application in other fruit crops needs major research effort and investment as it will bear enormous benefit to the world community. The application of rootstocks in tree fruit growing systems has many other effects on fruit quality, disease resistance, fertilizer use, production efficiency and canopy management. Our goal is to understand and find ways to leverage the genetic variability in apple rootstocks to curb such threats and promote a successful, sustainable and resilient production of high-quality fruit.

Technical Abstract: A green revolution that started in the roots of dwarfed apple orchards has increased productivity, quality, and efficiency of apple production while at the same time decreased the acreage, labor, and chemical treatments needed to grow those apples – all things that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Dwarfing and early bearing conferred by apple rootstocks to grafted scion varieties like Honeycrisp, Gala, Golden and Granny reduce the size of apple trees from 10-15 meters tall down to a manageable size of 2-3 meters and at the same time reduce juvenility years (length of non-bearing time from planting) from 5-7 years to 1 or 2 years. One can imagine the enormous efficiencies to be gained if all tree fruit and nut growing systems on earth were able to achieve higher production on less land and much earlier after planting than the current norm. It is estimated that dwarfing and early bearing have added yearly $2-3 billion every year in production efficiency in the U.S. alone, this estimate is likely more than 10 times larger when we consider world production. Fruit growers worldwide who have used dwarfing rootstocks should congratulate themselves for their major reduction in the carbon footprint of the fruit industry. While recent advances in apple genomics and metabolomics have shed some light on the mechanisms associated with dwarfing and early bearing in apple, the possible identification of similar processes and application in other fruit crops needs major research effort and investment as it will bear enormous benefit to the world community. Dwarfing and early bearing is not the only answer to climate change as there are other threats connected to water quality and availability, heat and cold stress, large oscillations in temperature, appearance of new diseases caused by changes in weather patterns which are in part connected to the implementation of rootstock technologies. Beyond dwarfing, the efficiency of the breeding process for a graftable fruit crop is greatly increased when trait development occurs separately for rootstocks and scions avoiding the need to combine twice as many traits in an individual. The application of rootstocks in tree fruit growing systems has many other effects on fruit quality, disease resistance, fertilizer use, production efficiency and canopy management. Our goal is to understand and find ways to leverage the genetic variability in apple rootstocks to curb such threats and promote a successful, sustainable and resilient production of high-quality fruit.