Muscadine ( Vitis rotundifolia Michx., syn. Muscandinia rotundifolia (Michx.) Small): The Resilient, Native Grape of the Southeastern U.S

Cain C. Hickey, Erick D. Smith, Shanshan Cao and Patrick Conner
Additional contact information
Cain C. Hickey: Department of Horticulture, University of Georgia, Athens, 322 Hoke Smith Building, Athens, GA 30602, USA
Erick D. Smith: Department of Horticulture, University of Georgia, Tifton Campus, 2360 Rainwater Road, Tifton, GA 31793, USA
Shanshan Cao: Department of Horticulture, University of Georgia, Tifton Campus, 2360 Rainwater Road, Tifton, GA 31793, USA
Patrick Conner: Department of Horticulture, University of Georgia, Tifton Campus, 2360 Rainwater Road, Tifton, GA 31793, USA

Agriculture, 2019, vol. 9, issue 6, 1-13

Abstract: Angiosperms are well adapted to tolerate biotic and abiotic stresses in their native environment. However, the growth habit of native plants may not be suited for cultivation and their fruits may not be desirable for consumption. Adapting a plant for cultivation and commercial appeal through breeding and selection may accentuate weaknesses in pest tolerance. The transition of muscadine from a wild, native plant to a cultivated crop has taken place over the last 150 years. Early production primarily involved cloning elite wild selections; few pest management inputs were needed since the material was genetically similar to the native plant. Over time, emphasis was placed on the refinement of pruning, trellising, and other cultural inputs to increase productivity and commercial implementation. In turn, breeders developed newer cultivars with greater productivity and commercial appeal. Many modern muscadine cultivars remain tolerant to biotic pests and are adapted to a hot and humid climate. The primary focus of this review is to provide a descriptive context of muscadine as a native American, perennial fruit crop that requires minimal pest management in hot, humid climates relative to recently introduced European bunch grapes. Inherent muscadine traits resulting in fewer pesticide inputs make them worthy of being planted across considerable acreages; yet, muscadines remain a niche crop. We conclude that muscadines suffer from their short history of cultivation in a confined region and would benefit from breeding and marketing efforts to increase consumption, commercial acceptance, and awareness.

Keywords: breeding; cultural practices; muscadine; pesticides; plant disease; ‘Scuppernong’ (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/9/6/131/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/9/6/131/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jagris:v:9:y:2019:i:6:p:131-:d:242193

Access Statistics for this article

Agriculture is currently edited by Ms. Leda Xuan

More articles in Agriculture from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().