Parent trees are selected as unique germplasm belonging to a
nurseryman, grower, or researcher or on property that the owner has given
written permission to a nurseryman and the department for access for
observation and testing. At the time of entry into the Citrus Nursery Stock
Certification Program, the owner shall sign a Parent Tree Candidate Entry Form,
FDACS-08298, Revised 03/14, as incorporated in Rule
5B-62.005, F.A.C.
(1) Prospective parent trees. As a
prerequisite to entry into the program, the person entering the parent tree for
consideration must provide a brief history or background of the selection that
includes the location of tree from which the testing material is
taken.
(2) The parent tree should
be exceptional, distinctive, or unique in regards to its vigor, fruit, disease
resistance, or any other characteristic that would make it of value to
cultivate.
(3) Prospective parent
trees of exceptional horticultural value that are found to be infected with one
or more graft-transmissible pathogens can be subjected to shoot-tip grafting or
other acceptable techniques to eliminate graft-transmissible pathogens provided
this is done under the supervision of the department. Plants that are shoot-tip
grafted shall be retested for the graft-transmissible pathogen detected,
subject to all other registration requirements and if shoot-tip grafted by the
department, made available for distribution to all interested nurserymen and
growers if approved by the owner.
(4) The parent tree or shoot-tip graft shall
have tested negative for all the endemic diseases listed in paragraph
5B-62.003(3)(b),
F.A.C.
(5) All trees propagated for
testing in the department's facilities shall become property of the
department.
(6) Parent trees will
not be used for a source of propagating material; rather the tested registered
propagation from the parent tree or shoot-tip graft will be the source material
of the parent tree clone to be used to establish foundation or scion
trees.
