Pecan
Breeding and selection programs

Active breeding and selection is carried out by the USDA Agricultural Research Service with growing locations at Brownwood and College Station, Texas. University of Georgia has a breeding program at the Tifton campus working on selecting pecan varieties adapted to subtropical southeastern U.S. growing conditions.

While selection work has been done since the late 19th century, most acreage of pecans grown today is of older cultivars, such as 'Stuart', 'Schley', 'Elliott', and 'Desirable', with known flaws but also with known production potential. Cultivars such as 'Elliot' are increasing in popularity due to resistance to pecan scab. The long cycle time for pecan trees plus financial considerations dictate that new varieties go through an extensive vetting process before being widely planted. Numerous varieties produce well in Texas but fail in the Southeastern U.S. due to increased disease pressure. Selection programs are ongoing at the state level, with Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Missouri, New Mexico, and others having trial plantings.

Varieties adapted from the southern tier of states north through some parts of Iowa and even into southern Canada are available from nurseries. Production potential drops significantly when planted further north than Tennessee. Most breeding efforts for northern-adapted varieties have not been on a large enough scale to significantly affect production. Varieties that are available and adapted (e.g., 'Major', 'Martzahn', 'Witte', 'Greenriver', 'Mullahy', and 'Posey') in zones 6 and farther north are almost entirely selections from wild stands. Kanza, a northern-adapted release from the USDA breeding program, is a grafted pecan having high productivity and quality, and cold tolerance.
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