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ARS Home » Plains Area » College Station, Texas » Southern Plains Agricultural Research Center » Crop Germplasm Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #178803
Title: 'WACO' PECAN SUITABLE FOR WESTERN U.S.

Author
item Thompson, Tommy
item Grauke, Larry
item LOMBARDINI, L - TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY

Submitted to: HortScience
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/9/2005
Publication Date: 12/1/2005
Citation: Thompson, T.E., Grauke, L.J., Lombardini, L. 2005. 'Waco' pecan suitable for western U.S. HortScience. 40(07):2207-2208.

Interpretive Summary: The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service conducts the only national pecan breeding program in the world. This program develops and releases improved pecan cultivars (varieties) to pecan growers. These improved cultivars produce more and higher quality pecans so that growers can make a profit and so high quality pecans are available to the public. 'Waco' is the 25th cultivar released by this program. It should perform well in commercial production areas of the Western U.S. It produces an abundance of large, easily shelled pecans of very high quality.

Technical Abstract: 'Waco' is a new pecan [Carya illinoinensis (Wangenh.) K. Koch] cultivar released February 11, 2005 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Research Service (ARS), and the Agricultural Experiment Station of Texas. When compared to other protandrous cultivars, 'Waco' has excellent nut quality, and is suitable for planting in the Western U.S. pecan production area. 'Waco' pecans are large enough to be sold in-shell, or they can be shelled to produce a high proportion of intact halves and large pieces of very high quality.