Impact of production risk on the selection of peach rootstocks

Nine peach rootstocks used in a nine-year experiment conducted at Biglerville, PA were evaluated based on their acceptability to generalized classes of fruit growers with different attitudes towards production risk. Tree mortality and its effect on orchard yield had a major impact on the economic performance of the rootstocks evaluated. In terms of average net returns, Halford, own-rooted 'Redhaven,' Bailey, and Lovell appeared to be good rootstock choices. However, in most cases, net return variability increased as average net returns increased. Using stochastic dominance with respect to a function techniques, Halford, own-rooted 'Redhaven,' and Bailey were ranked consistently in the top three across all risk preference intervals. Replacement of trees did not have a major impact on the preference ranking of a rootstock. The rootstocks Amandier, St. Julien, Damas, Siberian C, and 'Citation' performed very poorly compared to the other rootstocks in the trial.