ABSTRACT
Scion or bud grafting is the main asexual method for chestnut propagation, while layering and cuttings are used to propagate rootstocks, generally hybrids. Micropropagation has a great potential, and it is now beginning to be commercially diffused and not only linked to breeding programs. In nurseries and in forest, grafting is the preferred propagation method. However, climatic change is widening the area affected by Phytophthora cinnamomi, so grafting on ink resistant clonal rootstocks is a key point for the future development of healthy orchards. Large-scale self-rooting techniques for the production of clonal rootstocks are today available, but have yet to be generalized.
