Guilong Navel Orange

Guilong Navel Orange

　　Guilong Navel Orange

　　Breeding Institutions: Guangxi University, Longfa Fruit Professional Cooperative in Longmen Town, Pubei County

　　Variety Source: In 2005, an outstanding individual plant with seedless, navel, high yield, large fruit size, and bright orange-red color was discovered in the orchard of Li Zifeng’s family in Zhongnan Village, Longmen Town, Pubei County.

　　Characteristics: The tree has an open canopy, dense branches and shoots, simple leaves with relatively large, dark green foliage, and shorter, thicker shoots. Leaves are ovate-lanceolate with a cuneate base. The tree flowers once a year, with single or racemose inflorescences consisting of 5 white petals measuring 0.7 cm in length and 0.3 cm in width. There are 15 stamens with fully separated filaments. The fruit is flat-round with a navel, averaging 7.59 cm in transverse diameter and 4.38 cm in vertical diameter, giving a fruit shape index of 0.58. Single fruit weight ranges from 130 g to 203 g. The peel is orange-red, 0.19–0.29 cm thick. The flesh is also orange-red, with 13–14 segments, easy to peel, and either hollow or solid at the center, seedless. The fruit matures from late December to early January. It stores and transports well, has moderate juiciness, slight aroma, and a sweet-sour taste. Soluble solids content is 11%–13%, total acid 0.48%, total sugar 10.6%, vitamin C 36.3 ml/100 ml, edible rate 70.6%–81%, juice rate 61%, and crude fiber 1.3%.

　　Yield Performance: In 2007, the individual plant was propagated via air layering. From 2009 to 2011, the yield ranged from 1,234.8 kg to 2,683.8 kg per mu. In December 2011, experts organized by the Crop Variety Approval Office of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region conducted on-site yield measurements in Pingjiang Village, Longmen Town, Pubei County. The average fruit weight was 145.3 g, average yield per plant 42.6 kg, and average yield per mu 2,683.8 kg.

　　Cultivation Points: 　　　　1. Select gentle slopes or flat land with loose soil and deep soil layers for orchard establishment. Apply 10–20 kg of pig or cow manure and 15 kg of turf mud as base fertilizer per plant. 　　　　2. Use high-pressure or grafted seedlings for planting, with a row-to-plant spacing of 4 m × 3 m, planting 63 plants per 667 m². 　　　　3. Prune shoot tips for shaping, remove buds to control shoot growth, and use unified shoot retention methods to form the tree canopy early. 　　　　4. For young trees, apply base fertilizer in winter using green manure, compost, bran cake fertilizer, or human and animal waste, at 30 kg per plant. Before each shoot flush, apply 250 g of compound fertilizer (15N:1P5:15K) per plant. 　　　　5. Ensure flower and fruit retention. Apply fertilizer 4–5 times per year, including pre-bud fertilizer, post-flowering fertilizer, fruit-setting fertilizer, shoot-promoting fertilizer, and post-harvest fertilizer. Additionally, during flowering and early fruit stages, apply 4–5 foliar feedings using a mixture of 0.3% urea, 0.2% borax, and 0.2% potassium dihydrogen phosphate to protect flowers, and 20 ppm “920” to protect fruits. 　　　　6. Pay attention to the prevention and control of diseases and pests such as scab, canker, anthracnose, sooty mold, red spider mites, rust mites, leaf miners, aphids, and psyllids.

　　Approval Opinion: Upon review, this variety meets the General Rules for the Approval of Non-Staple Crop Varieties and is approved for cultivation in Guangxi’s citrus-producing regions.